


The Secrets We Hide

by BlueSpiritsLight



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Bunny Legend, Canon-Typical Violence, Comfort, Cuddles, Fairy Hyrule, Four whump, Gen, Injury (not described in detail), Kinda Sky whump, Legend whump, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), Mentions of Blood, Mild Cursing, Minish Four, Nightmares, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tags will update as story is updated, Time whump, Toture warnings, Twilight Whump, Warriors whump, Wind wants to be a fish, Wind whump, Wolf link - Freeform, Yiga are bullies, You Have Been Warned, You asked for the Yiga to get blown up..., but it is implied, everyone has some Whump somewhere in the story, mentioned death, mentions of dog fighting, not super graphic or bloody, wolfie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-06
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:41:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,075
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22584223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueSpiritsLight/pseuds/BlueSpiritsLight
Summary: Everything starts to go wrong after the Links switch worlds. Secrets are revealed as one event leads to another. Is it some external force controlling events, or is it purely coincidence? Whatever it is, the Links will surely know each other better by the end.
Relationships: Four & Hyrule & Legend & Sky & Time & Twilight & Warriors & Wild & Wind (Linked Universe)
Comments: 141
Kudos: 624





	1. Four's Small Problem

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I've been wanting to write for a while and I finally figured out how to start it. Thanks to those in the LU Discord for encouraging me to post this!

Four hated changing worlds. It scrambled him up and it took a few minutes for him to sort himself out. He hadn't opened his eyes yet, worried it would make his nausea worse, but he could tell something wasn't right. He felt so much worse than he usually did when they switched. 

Once he got his stomach under control and his head properly sorted, he blinked open his eyes, wincing slightly at the brightness. when he could finally see, he almost wished he couldn't. The world was much bigger than it should have been. He swore internally and pushed himself to his feet quickly, swaying dangerously as he was hit with a wave of lightheadedness. 

The grass was particularly tall here, and it was like being surrounded by tall trees. He couldn't see over it well enough to tell if any of his companions were nearby, so he looked around for some clue on which way to go, which ended up being something that was slightly shiny through the grass. It was all he had to go by, so he started pushing his way through the dense grass towards it.

As he went, he listened carefully for any sound of large movement near him. It would either be his friend's, or an animal, and he really hoped it would be the former. 

Not only was the grass incredibly thick, but the ground he was standing on was also slightly muddy as well, making it a little harder for him to make a lot of progress. Though it was slow, he was getting closer to his target, which he was beginning to think was either Time or Warriors armor. 

His theory was confirmed when he saw something gold through the grass on his left. It must have been Time, he was the only one with gold armor. Four breathed a bit easier. While he didn't want the others to find out about his secret this way, it beat being alone at this size with no idea if there were any portals nearby.

There was a loud groan somewhere behind him, and he jerked around to see a head of brown hair slightly visible over the grass. Sky or Hyrule, the hair was a little too brown to be Twilight. "Ugh, that was a particularly bad switch..." That was twilight, and his voice was coming from somewhere to Four's right. He was running out of time.

He hurried the rest of the way over to Time and began running towards his head. There was no way he would be able to get his attention from down by his waist, especially if he actually got up.  
He realized he forgot about something when he ran into a black sleeve. He would have to climb over Time's arm to actually get to his head. 

Realizing he didn't have time to feel stupid, he grabbed onto the fabric and began scrambling up it as quickly as possible. Right as he was reaching the top, He felt the arm begin to shift slightly as Time began to stir. Barely waiting till he got his balance, Four jumped off on the other side right as the arm began to move up off the ground.

He made it to the oldest links head as Time was beginning to sit up, barely having time to grab onto the blonde hair before it got out of reach. Four held on as tight as he could until Time was sitting up before dropping the short distance onto his shoulder. 

Four took a deep breath and collapsed, sitting between the gold shoulder plate and Times neck till he could gain his breath back. He hadn't given himself enough time to recover after the switch and he was paying the price.

He scrambled to hold on as Time fully got to his feet and dusted himself off. "Is everyone alright?" There were mumbled replies from everyone as the rest of the links carefully got to their feet before Warriors spoke up. 

"Wait, where's Four?" Instantly, the rest of the group tensed and began to look around frantically for their missing member. "Time! Time, I'm here!" Four gathered as much breath as he could and managed a choked shout. Thankfully it was enough, and Time jerked around, looking over his right shoulder for the source of the voice. Four was glad he was sitting down as he probably would have fallen from the sudden movement. "On your shoulder. I might have a small problem." Four shifted closer to the shoulder piece so Time could actually see him. 

"Four?" All activity around them halted at Times confused response. A large hand approached and moved to gently pick him up and Four had to fight his urge to step back. It was quite intimidating seeing a giant hand reaching for him, but he trusted Time with his life. Time carefully set him in his open palm so the rest of the group could see him. 

"What. The. Heck." Legend's voice cracked a little bit on the last word as he saw the small Hylian, and Four, finally recovered, smiled at him sheepishly and waved. "Hey, guys... surprise?" The confused silence was broken by laughter, and the group turned in surprise to see Twilight nearly doubled over and holding his stomach.

"What is going on here?"

"Why is Twi laughing?"

"Screw that, why is Four like 20 times smaller than he should be?!"

"Hey! Enough!" Time's raised voice silenced everyone instantly, and after nodding in satisfaction, Time turned his attention back to Four. "Now, do you have any idea what happened?" 

Four shrugged and began to tell his story, telling the group all about the minish and his journey to defeat Vaati. "...but, I have no idea why I'm minished sized now. I wasn't before we switched, and I normally need something called a portal to shrink." He finally concluded his little speech and looked around at everyone around him. They all seemed to be thinking over his situation and trying to come up with a solution.

"So, until we can find a portal, you can't get back to your regular size?" Time was the first to speak. Four nodded. "Well, our first step should be figuring out who's Hyrule we're in. Then we can try and figure out how to find one of these portals." The group nodded and dispersed to gather up their fallen gear. 

Four groaned and face-palmed as he realized that most of his gear was still where he had first woken up, and it had shrunk with him. "What is it?" Four plopped down with his legs outstretched before gesturing vaguely in the direction he thought he had come from and replying to Time's question. 

"My gear shrunk with me, but I left it where I first woke up. It's going to be hard to find in all this grass." Before Time had a chance to respond, Twilight walked up with his hand closed in a loose fist in front of him. He opened his hand and tilted it slightly to tip all the contents onto Times hand and in front of Four.

"I take it these are yours?" Four saw the smirk, but he didn't care as he rummaged through the stuff, making sure everything was there. "How did you find it?!" Twilight nodded towards the ground. "Saw your trail and followed it back to your stuff, since I didn't see it with you I assumed it was still there." Four looked up at the other Hero was a smile, and Twilight grinned back before going back collecting his own gear. 

Time transferred him back to his shoulder before collecting his own gear. Once the group was ready to go, they set off towards the nearest path.

"It's not my Hyrule, my slate doesn't connect."

"I... I think it's mine." Twilight spoke from the back of the group, next to Time and Four. "This is the entrance to Hyrule Field. Back that way is the spirit spring and Ordon." Four perked up at that. "There might be a portal in Ordon! I think last time we were there I might have felt one!" Time relayed the message to the others that didn't hear and the group all nodded before heading down the path Twilight had indicated. 

They didn't make it very far when there was growling from the forest around them. The links quickly formed into a circle, covering each other's backs while looking around, trying to find the threat. 

Unfortunately, the threat found them first. A Lizalfo lunged out of the trees, straight at Time. There was a clash of metal on metal as Time barely raised his shield before he could become impaled on the Lizalfos spear. There were other clashes all around the group and more monsters came out of the shadows. Four clung onto Time's shoulder as the larger hero blocked another hit. Watching, carefully, he realized there was something he could do. 

The next time the Lizalfo attacked, Four jumped over the shoulder plate of Times armor and slid down it, running along his arm and grabbing onto the monster's weapon as it was drawn away again. He allowed the momentum to carry him towards the monster and released his grip so he landed on the Lizalfo's snout. He drew his sword with a smirk as the lizard crossed its eyes to see him. Without any hesitation, he jabbed his sword deep into the creature's left eye, before quickly doing the same to the other.

Blinded and in horrible pain, The Lizalfo clawed at its own face, trying to get the hero off, but Four ducked around the claws. Time took advantage of the monster's distraction a swiftly stabbed it through the heart. As it fell, Four made a wild leap off of it, towards Time, and thankfully landed safely on Times outstretched palm. ]

"What were you thinking?!" Time only had time for one furious comment before his attention was turned back to the battle, forced to close his hand in a loose fist so he wouldn't drop Four when he spun to face another oncoming attack. Four couldn't see what was going on from the closed fist. Even though he was small, he still didn't have a lot of room, though that was also a benefit because he wasn't being flung all over the place.

There was a lot of shouting and crashing and the rest of the group fought, but the sound slowly died down until it was replaced with heavy breathing and the soft sound of weapons being sheathed. Time opened his hand and looked four over with concern. "Are you alright?" Four got to his feet and nodded. "Good. Now don't do anything like that again unless absolutely necessary, you could have died!"

Four was about to argue when he realized Time was just worried. Instead, he huffed and nodded.

"Hey, where's my necklace?!" Twilights panicked voice drew everyone's attention and they all turned to look at the Ordonian before quickly fanning out to help look. Time put Four back on his shoulder before moving to join them.

It didn't take long for someone to find it. "Oh, here it is!" Legend called out, reaching out to pick it up. "Don't-" Twilight didn't have enough time to stop him before his hand made contact with the stone and he vanished in black magic. When it cleared, the whole group was left staring wide-eyed at a very confused looking pink rabbit.

"touch it... well.... that was unexpected."


	2. The Bunny of Legend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is unbeta'd so if you find any typos or mistakes, please let me know!

Why was he so short? Legend looked down at himself in confusion only to let out a curse in surprise. Only, it wasn't a curse, it was a high-pitched squeak. The confusion was soon replaced with embarrassed anger, and he spun around to glare at the source of his misery

'TWILIGHT!' He ran over to him and scratched and kicked at his shins, for that was all he could reach. Hands grabbed around his sides and lifted him into the air and away from the other hero, and Legend struggled to get out of their grip but couldn't manage it. 

"Hang on, what's going on? First, four becomes the size of a thumb, and now Legend was turned into a pink bunny?" Warrior's voice came from somewhere to legends right, and whoever had picked him up now cradled him in their arms and against their chest. "Well, at least we kinda know what happened to Legend." The chest he was against rumbled as they spoke and Legend finally realized it had been Hyrule to pick him up.

"What is this Twilight?" The Ordonian let out a sigh at Hyrule's question. "It was my necklace. It's not really a rock on the end, but a curse that was put on me during my journey. I learned how to control it, so I've kept it with me ever since. When Legend touched it, it's like going into the twilight realm, and for most people they become spirits, but for some, like me and Legend, they take the form of a 'divine beast'"

"So you're telling me, that a pink bunny is considered a 'divine beast?'" some of the others were now choking back laughter as they realized the full meaning. "Not necessarily, but it does represent your inner self." That was it, the others started laughing fully now, and Legend could do nothing to defend himself. 

"What? You can talk to animals?" Times voice drew their attention and they saw him glancing at Four. 'Wait, Four can understand me?' Legend asked incredulously, watching as Time moved Four from his shoulder to Hyrule's so he could better hear Legend. "Yeah, by the way, watch your language, even if the others can't understand you, there are plenty of innocent animals around and I don't want them getting corrupted." Legend glared and Hyrule laughed.

"Well, how do we turn him back?" Time asked Twilight, and the younger hero gestured towards Sky. "When It first happened to me, I changed back when I touched the master sword." Sky unsheathed it and brought it over to Legend, Hyrule, and Four. 'Wait, Hyrule needs to put me down first, I don't want to be dropped when I turn back' Four relayed his message and Hyrule gently released him onto the forest floor before taking a step back. Sky set the sword down on the ground in front of the rabbit before backing away himself.,

Taking a deep breath, Legend closed his eyes and reach towards the blade with a paw, feeling the cold metal through his fur. 

"Nothing's happening."

"I was expecting more... flash"

His eyes sprung open and he sagged with disappointment. Footsteps approached from his right and Strong hands wrapped around his middle and lifted him from the ground. Twilight held him up and looked him over carefully. Legend watched him curiously but held still. The other hero didn't seem to see what he was looking for as he sighed and rearranged his hold to what Hyrule had been doing earlier. 

The others watched curiously as Twilight sat down on the ground and set legend on his lap so he would have both hands. He started running them through Legends fur, wandering around as if searching for something. Legend fought the urge to avoid the touch and forced himself to stay still and the hands moved along his back before moving towards his head. One stopped on his forehead and Twilight let out a hum of satisfaction. "Found it." 

"The stone is where it was for me, so the master sword should have worked...." Twilight frowned down at Legend, who couldn't be that angry with him. He had heard Twi trying to stop him, and the concern on his face made it impossible to stay mad. 

"It isn't safe here, we should keep moving to Ordon, we can figure this out when we're there." The group nodded at Time's suggestion and they started moving again, Twilight holding bunny Legend, With Wind looking over with barely disguised longing, and Four riding on Hyrule's shoulder.

The group kept glancing warily at their surroundings, waiting for another attack. They had gotten lucky that nobody was injured in the first one, and they couldn't afford to lose anyone else. They were already down two fighters.

Begrudgingly, Legend had to admit that he was pretty comfortable, and the rocking motion as they walked was soothing. He didn't even notice Hyrule walking next to Twilight and whispering to him, or Four hoping from Hyrule's shoulder to Twilight, then him sliding down the Ordonians arm. 

He did, however, notice the small feet that landed on his back and made their way to his shoulders. 'What are you doing?' Legend lifted his head and turned slightly to see Four making himself comfortable on his back between his shoulders. 

"laying down." 

'On me?'

"Yep."

He couldn't smirk very well as a Rabbit, but he managed as he had an idea. Feigning innocence, He stretched and rolled his shoulders, causing Four to yelp indignantly as he rolled off his back and slid down between Legend and Twilight. Legend felt Twilight pull his arms a little closer to his chest as Four fell, making sure he wouldn't fall to the ground. Hands gripped Legends fur as Four pulled himself back up.

"Rude." Legend laughed and both he and Four could feel the slight rumble in Twilight's chest as he laughed a little too. Four glared up at him but he didn't look down. Grumpily, Four got back into his spot and settled down again, and Legend let him this time. After a few minutes, they could hear running water and they walked through a large tunnel that led to a spring. 

"This is the Faron Spring. It's home to the spirit of light called Faron. They might be able to help, as their magic is what I used to change back after the first time." 

As the group approached the spring, a light began to shine from its depths before a glowing sphere floated from the water to hover in the air. Reality seemed to waver around it, and as the heroes squinted into the light, they began to make out some kind of creature holding onto the sphere.

'Hero of Legend. Darkness surrounds you.'

Legend stiffened at the voice in his head, and he looked at the others to see if any of them had heard it too, but none of them had reacted. He felt Four sitting up on his back and a small hand rested between his ears

"What is it? Did it speak to you?"

Legend could only nod, words lost to him at the moment.

'Sadly this is not darkness that I can dispell. I can remove the curse, but I cannot revert your form. There is something you all must do before you are returned to your natural state. Something you all must learn.'

A strange tingling started in his forehead, and he closed his eyes and grunted at the discomfort, trying to paw at his forehead and get it to stop. He froze when his paw hit something hard that was seeming coming out of his head. He began to panic slightly, for rocks or other hard things should NOT be in his forehead, but Twilight's grip was strong, so the bunny did not fall. 

In less than a second, the feeling had gone, as well as the light from the spirit, and there was a splash as something landed in the shallow water in front of them. Twilight carefully crouched down and fished his necklace out of the spring, being careful to grab it by the rope. 

"Wait, so the curse is gone, but why is he still a rabbit?" Warriors asked, taking a closer look at Legend as if he would magically become a Hylian again if he looked hard enough. 

'Faron said there was something else we must do or learn, then I would turn back.' Four translated for him and the others began to talk over this revelation. 

"Wait, so if you can't turn back until we figure out whats going on, does that mean I can't either?" Four's voice was quiet, but Legend could hear him pretty easily, and surprisingly Twilight could too. "Don't worry, we'll figure this out and get you both back to normal." 

The group moved on from the spring and continued towards Ordon Village, still talking about potential solutions for their situation.

" So let's list what we know so far. When we switched worlds. Four's ability to shrink was activated for seemingly no reason." Time spoke from the back of the group, trying to stop all the side conversations and direct them all to share their ideas.

"Then Legend was turned into a pink bunny With Twilights magic rock necklace, and he can't be turned back until we 'learn' something." Warrior's was the next to speak up

"But that could easily be a coincidence..." Now Hyrule.

"Could It be Hylia? Maybe there was something we missed or didn't talk to each other about." Wind's suggestion caused them to drop into silence as they thought.

"That could be possible..."

The group reached a wooden bridge over a deep ravine, and legend saw a grin begin to form on Twilights' face and he hurried ahead. "We're almost there!"

The hero's excitement was contagious and the whole group picked up the pace. They passed another spring before turning a corner into a clearing with a large tree in the center, a cozy treehouse resting in its branches. Beneath the tree, a horse was grazing peacefully, though it looked up when they approached. 

She walked up to the group and nudged Twilight with her nose, snuffling happily 'Welcome home, Link.' Legend stared at the horse with wide, shocked eyes. He could understand what she was saying. Four must-have noticed him tensing because he leaned forward and whispered "It's strange the first few times," before patting him on the head.

Twilight used his free hand to rub the horse's nose in greeting, "It's good to be back, girl." Then he turned to the rest of the group. "This is my house, It's safe here, so we can head inside and try and figure out whats going on. It's a little late to head into the village now." As he spoke, he glanced up at the steadily darkening sky before turning to the ladder to the treehouse. He shifted legend to his shoulder so he would have both hands to climb up the ladder, and the bunny gripped the pelt with his claws, feeling Four doing the same on his own back. 

Soon, the whole group had entered the house, shrugging off their gear and gathering in a rough circle, Legend having been dragged completely against his will into Winds lap (He wouldn't admit that he had let him, not even to himself) and Four sitting on Warriors scarf, which had been piled on the floor next to the knight. Legend tried to stay alert, but Wind was gently running his fingers through his fur, and his eyes began to drift shut.

Once they were all settled, Hyrule asked the question that some of them had been wondering "So Twilight. Since that curse changed Legend into a bunny, what does it change you into?" That woke him up. Legend's eyes snapped open and he watched as Twilight's eyes widened at Hyrules's question. He seemed to be trying to find a way out of answering, but eventually, he sighed and spoke. "A wolf."


	3. The Divine Beast of Twilight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna do one post a day, but this chapter seemed to just write itself and I just hand to post it once I finished. Technically its the next day.... right?
> 
> Anyway, as usual, this is unbeta'd and if you find any typos or mistakes let me know :)

Wild, Time, and Four already knew, so he didn't bother looking for their reactions. Warriors frowned contemplatively for a second before realization seemed to dawn on him. Sky and Hyrule both seemed to understand immediately, thought Hyrule also seemed like he had been expecting it for a while. Legend was impossible to read besides the wide-eyed stare. Wind just looked excited. 

"Wait, so you can turn into a wolf at will? Does that mean you can talk to Wolfie?!" Everyone facepalmed, even Legend. Wind saw their reactions and must have realized that he missed something important. Warriors reached over and put his hand on Wind's shoulder and shook his head. 

"Kid. Have you ever seen Twi and Wolfie in the same place?" Wind frowned for a second and then burst out laughing. "Wait, so TWILIGHT is wolfie? The wolf that loves belly rubs, and cuddles?" Twilight was not expecting that reaction. He was expecting some anger at not telling them, not... whatever this was.

"You know I'm practically an older brother to every kid in this village? I don't get very embarrassed about helping my friends." He crossed his arms and shook his head as the rest of the group started laughing as well and sharing 'embarrassing' things wolfie has done, smiling slightly.

As the laughter died down, Wind kept speaking, the realizations stacking up. "Wait, so when you said he only takes kisses from pretty girls... You knew?!" The group turned to look at Wild incredulously, who nodded with a smirk. "He joined me on my journey in his wolf form. I hadn't met him as a Hylian until I joined you guys."

The others nodded in understanding and then Time spoke up. "If we're all being honest, I knew as well." 

Twilight zoned out a bit as the stories were passed around, feeling the familiar tug as twilight descended on the world outside. It was almost like he could hear her voice, teasing him playfully for being too serious, or too slow, or whatever else she had decided to target. The jabs used to get on his nerves, but over time, he felt their intent soften, and he could even hear the slight fondness underneath, and they grew on him.

Epona let out a loud whinny and Twilight was instantly on his feet. "Something's outside. and it's not on our side." The others followed him as he rushed outside, barely slowing down to grab his sword and shield before leaping off his porch and landing with a roll on the ground in front of his horse. The path from the forest was dark, and there's no way anything could be coming from the village. The others were quick to join him on the ground.

"Where are Four and Legend?" He asked, not wanted the vulnerable members of their group to be in danger. "Still in the house, though not happy about it." He nodded once before the shadows slowly began to brighten with an eerie blue glow. Dread pooled in his gut and he knew exactly what was coming. Shadows were moving across the light, so it wasn't alone.

A swarm of Bokoblins came out into the clearing, but Twilight ignored them as he dropped his sword and shield and clutched at the curse around his neck, feeling the Twili magic flow through his body, changing him as it went. The sudden change caused everyone to freeze, but Twilight didn't notice. He lunged into the throng of enemies, tearing into them as he went, clearing a path towards the light that had finally turned the corner.

The Poe floated towards him, chiming threateningly, but before he could lung he felt a club smash into his side and he stumbled, forced to turn his attention away from the ghost. The Bokoblin in front of him snarled and moved to swing again, it's arm still dripping blackish blood from where he had injured it when he passed. It wasn't alone either.

There were at least 3 more marching towards him, their weapons ranging from rusty spears to heavy clubs. He crouched, waiting for them to get closer, then exploded into motion, leaping from enemy to enemy, taking each out viciously and quickly before moving to the next. 

Even though he was fast, the Poe had gotten past him while he was distracted, and it was heading straight for Hyrule, who had his back to it. Twilight tried to bark a warning, but they couldn't hear him over the sounds of the battle. He could only run as fast as he could, knowing he wouldn't make it in time.

The Poe raised its scythe, ready to strike the unsuspecting Hylian, but before it could, a pink bundle of fur landed right on its head. It hissed angrily and swatted at the brave little rabbit that was busy clawing at its face, and it got in a lucky hit eventually, throwing the rabbit off and onto the ground, hard. Legend let out a brief cry of pain as he landed before choking it down and trying to push himself up. 

Before the Poe could make another attempt, Twilight reached it and dragged it down before grabbing its soul and tearing it out with a snarl. The Poe vanished in a puff of smoke and left Twilight standing over an injured rabbit.

When he had arrived, Legend had flopped to the ground, wheezing softly and not even trying to get up again. The skirmish had drawn Hyrule's attention, and the boy stared at the two animals wide-eyed for a second before turning back to his fight. 

Another Bokoblin rushed them, but Twilight couldn't just leave Legend on the ground and injured, so he mumbled a quick apology and grabbed the rabbit by the scruff before leaping out of the way of the incoming attack. He dodged a few more as he made his way back towards the tree before stowing the rabbit safely in a small gap under the roots.

He didn't dare stray far, but it gave him a bit more room to move and he knew legend was safe. He fought anything that came near, each monster disappearing in two or three powerful attacks, and soon the fight slowed until the last Bokoblin had been slain. 

The moment it was safe to, Twilight tried to change back, but for some reason, something kept him from reaching the light magic inside him. He didn't have time to dwell on it. LEGEND, might not have time. He let out a wordless bark to draw the group's attention before returning to Legend's hiding place to check on his friend.

'You all right, Legend?' The bunny looked up at his voice and nodded wearily. 'Yeah, I think I'll be alright... Thanks for the help..." Twilight merely nodded before he stepped aside so Hyrule could reach in and gently pull the injured rabbit into his arms. "Legend, why would you do that?! You can't fight like this!" Hyrule's hands began to glow slightly pink as he tried to heal some of the Legends wounds.

'Yeah, I noticed. Next time I won't have to if you just watched your back!' Legend grumbled half-heartedly, but there was a hint of despair at that. 

'Even if he had turned around, Poe's are invisible to the human eye, except for their lanterns. He wouldn't have been able to do anything, and I would have been too late.' Legend stared at him as he registered that, then thrust a paw in the air in celebration. 

'HA! I saved your life as a RABBIT!' Even though the group couldn't understand him, they seemed to get the idea and started laughing.

Twilight tried to change back again, but still, the light was blocked. He closed his eyes and focused purely on the light, what it felt like to be Hylian again, the actual feeling of the change, anything he could think of, but nothing worked. He let out a growl of frustration and opened his eyes to see everyone staring at him with varying expressions of worry and confusion on their faces.

"What's wrong Twi? Can you not turn back?" Wild had apparently moved to kneel in front of him while he was trying to change back, and now Twilight looked at him and shook his head. 

'Wait, so now you're stuck as an animal too? This can't be a coincidence. First Four, then me, and now you?' Legend squirmed around in Hyrule's grip until he could see him, and Twilight nodded thoughtfully. 'this is getting a bit too odd, even for us...'

Twilight got up and shook himself roughly, getting his thoughts in order. 'We should get back up to Four. Epona will warn us if anything comes again.' Legend nodded and nudged Hyrule with a paw before pointed back up to the treehouse. Getting the message, all the other Hero's made their way up the ladder and disappeared onto the porch.

Twilight used a few rocks and branches to get up there after them, struggling the last jump to pull himself onto more stable ground, before following them inside. 

They had just finished explaining what happened to Four, who sat on the scarf acting like he hadn't moved, though Twilight could distinctly smell where Four had been pacing by the door just minutes before. 

"So now Twilights stuck too? What's next? is Wind gonna turn into a fish?" The youngest of the group gasped, but instead of looking horrified at the idea, he actually looked excited before Time abruptly spoke up. "Nope, nobody is turning into a fish. We need to just calm down. It's getting late, We've all had a long day, let's just get some sleep and maybe things will be easier in the morning."

Everyone nodded concent before drifting off to get out their bedrolls and rolling them out on the floor. Twilight didn't bother with his own and just curled up next to Wild, allowing the younger Link to use him as a pillow. He felt something small climb over him before seeing a fluffy pink bunny settle itself between his front paws, pushing itself back against his chest.

'uh, Legend?' 

He was promptly kicked in the chest. letting out a huff of amusement, He lay down his head on top of his front paws, the bunny tucked under his chin. 'It's cold...' twilight merely rumbled in agreement. 

Not surprisingly, he heard very quiet footsteps a few minutes later and opened his eyes to see Four shivering as he made his way over as well. Twilight tilted his head slightly, give Four enough room to join Legend, before finally falling asleep.

A whimper next to him broke through his dreamless sleep and he was instantly alert, turning to check on his protege while trying to not disturb the smaller beings using him for warmth. Hands tightened in his fur and he nudged Wild's head gently with his muzzle, trying to wake him. 

The young hero shot up with a sharp gasp, breathing heavily and looking around frantically before locking eyes with Twilight. The Ordonian lowered his ears and pushed his head under his friend's hands, encouraging him to pet the soft fur between his ears. Wild huffed out a small laugh and obliged, slowly relaxing as he repeated the easy motions and the lines on his forehead slowly smoothing. When Twilight could tell he had fully calmed down, he rested his head on Wild's shoulder, giving him as much of a hug as he could in this form.

Hands gripped the fur around his neck and a face was buried in his shoulder as Wild threw his arms around him. Twilight and Wild both ignored the dampness that was left on dark fur as wild leaned back and grinned at his friend. "Thanks, Twi..." Twilight nodded and shifted slightly as Wild laid down half on top of him and promptly fell asleep again, silent this time with a small half-smile on his face

There was something nice about feeling the weight of him, reassuring Twilight that he was still there, and the warmth of him proving that he was still alive. Twilight was about to lay his head back down when a faint glow drew his attention.

It was coming from Hyrule, more specifically, the hand slightly peeking out from under his blankets.


	4. To Believe in Fairies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to be a little more graphic, mentions of blood and injuries, but not any real graphic detail. Mentioned dog fights, but again not a lot of detail.

Something cold and wet was poking him in the forehead. Hyrule frowned and tried to swat at whatever it was, but his hand hit fur. He blinked open his eyes to see Wolfie - no, Twilight - looking at him with a worried expression. Blinking a few more times to clear the sleep from his vision, a soft glow drew his attention. both his hands were glowing, slowly getting brighter. 

Hyrule held his hands up in front of his face, turning them over a few times. "What..." they were glowing in the same way they do when he casts a specific spell... He glanced over at Twilight, then past him to where Legend and Four were half awake next to a curious Wild, and his eyes widened as he realized what was happening. "Oh no."

With that, The world grew around him and he closed his eyes against the whirlwind of movement. When he felt the familiar feeling of shrinking stop, he opened his eyes again and got to his feet, fluttering his wings after weeks for not having them. 

He had just barely gotten to his feet when he was knocked back a few steps by a massive wolf nose bumping into him. "Twilight! hey, stop! I'm fine!" He flew into the air and hovered at eye level with his friend. He saw Legend with Four hanging on to his back hurrying over, followed by Wild, who had to go slower so he wouldn't step on someone

"It's just a spell. Though I wonder why it happened when I didn't cast anything..." Things were starting to come together... Four had a secret ability to shrink, and then it happened and everyone found out... Legend turned into a pink bunny (he didn't see how that was a secret, but maybe there was something legend wasn't tell them about it), Twilight was forced to reveal that he was Wolfie, and now he was stuck as a fairy, an ability he hadn't told the others about. 

"Our secrets! Something is forcing us to reveal our secrets!" Twilight's head tilted slightly to the side as he thought about it before he nodded slowly. "We need to wake everyone up and tell them. If everyone else shares their secrets, it'll probably allow us all to return to normal!" 

Now Wild had reached them as well and was sitting, cross-legged on Hyrule's blankets. "How are we supposed to know which secrets we have to share? I don't think I have any secrets from you guys. Everyone here already knows I've died, and that's the only major thing I can think of."

The offhanded way he referenced his own death caused everyone to wince slightly. The voices were waking everyone else, and they froze guiltily as Sky, who had been right next to them, sat up slowly, drawing the blankets around his shoulders. He looked at them through half-open eyes before he saw Hyrule, when he jerked in surprise, accidentally kneeing warriors in the side.

It was like watching a single pebble cause an avalanche, and pretty soon everyone was awake and grumbling at each other. "What's going on?" Times tired voice spoke up from across the room. Sky was the one who answered with a dumbfounded "Hyrule's a fairy."

Time, Wind, and Warriors all sat up immediately and Hyrule found everyone staring at him. He glowed brighter in embarrassment. "So now we're down 4 people? We need to find out what's happening before everyone gets transformed into something." Warrior was the first to speak, looking worried. 

"I think I have an idea of what's happening," Hyrule said, using his magic to help his voice project. "Four hadn't told us of his ability to shrink, Twilight hadn't told everyone that he was Wolfie, and I hadn't told anyone that I knew a spell to turn me into a fairy. I'm not sure about Legend being a pink bunny, but everything else that's happened has revealed a secret we were keeping from each other."

The others nodded thoughtfully, moving a bit closer until the group was in a small circle. "So, if we share out secrets, everything should go back to normal?" Sky asked, frowning slightly as he thought it over. "That makes sense... but what kind of secrets would it be?" Four spoke up from his spot between Twilight and Legend.

Time finally spoke up. "The things we are afraid to share. Four, were you nervous about telling us? about how we would react?" Hesitantly, Four nodded. "And Legend, I have a feeling something like this had already happened to you, and you were embarrassed about it?" This time the rabbit nodded, his ears pressed flat against his head. "Pup, I know you were afraid of how the others would react." Twilight shifted uncomfortably at that. "And I was embarrassed... So that's it! We all probably have something that we are scared of sharing."

Everyone who hadn't been affected yet shifted nervously, even Time. Before anyone could say anything, however, the world around them began to shift and Hyrule barely registered the feeling of falling and landing on soft fur before he fell unconscious.

Cold water splashed on him and he gasped as he shot up, shocked at the sudden cold. He was in the middle of an empty field of grass and it was pouring rain. He rolled out of the way of another drop and pushed himself to his feet, shivering violently. He saw a rock not too far away and sprinted towards it, hoping to find some form of shelter near it. Hylia must have taken pity on him, for there was a plant growing next to it with broad leaves that formed a small shelter just large enough for him to huddle in.

Now that he was slightly safer, he took a second to shake some water from his wings, though they would still take a while to dry enough for him to fly. "Great. We finally figure out how to fix this, then we switch worlds and get separated." Normally he wouldn't be so grumpy, but he was cold and frustrated. Maybe he had been hanging out with Legend too much.

The rain lasted almost an hour, and there was nothing he could do but sit there staring out into the field until it stopped. As the rain finally began to taper off, he heard an odd clinking sound and the heavy breathing of an animal. It was coming from the other side of the rock so Hyrule couldn't see what it was, and the rain was still too heavy for him to risk checking. He tensed as it grew closer until it sounded like it was right next to him. 

A shadow fell over his spot and he shrank back against the rock, curling into himself to try and remain unnoticeable. He saw a white paw land almost soundlessly next to his hiding place. He finally dared to peek out from under the leaf and found himself staring into familiar blue eyes. "Twilight?"

The wolf had one paw on either side of Hyrule's hiding place and was blocking the rain with his head and he investigated. "Hylia... You scared me! I thought you were gonna eat me or something." Disgust flashed across his friend's face at the thought, but it was quickly replaced by relief. Hyrule stepped out of his hiding place but remained in the sheltered space created by his much larger friend. 

"I take it you haven't found anyone else?" Twilight shook his head as he glanced around, making sure nothing was approaching. Hyrule sighed in disappointment as he fluttered his wings experimentally, smiling when he realized they had finally dried enough for him to fly. "Well, I can finally fly again, so let's go look." Twilight nodded and shook some excess water from his coat, growling in annoyance as it was just soaked through again.

Together, they crossed the Field, Twilight periodically stopping to sniff the air and try and catch some hint of his other lost companions. They eventually reached a small grove of trees before Hyrule nearly ran into Twilight's leg as the wolf stopped suddenly, tense. He began sniffing the ground urgently in front of them before stopping near something. Hyrule flew down to investigate what he found and felt dread in his heart as he saw a small amount of red staining a pebble, in the shape of a small hand.

"Four..." Hyrule breathed, turning back to Twilight. "Let's go." It had finally stopped rain and Hyrule flew up and grabbed onto some of the still damp fur on the back of Twilight neck before the Wolf began to sprint, following their injured friend.

Twilight slowed down suddenly and began to move silently through the bushes, and pretty soon Hyrule could hear the sound of frantic digging. He dimmed his glow as much as he could and flew ahead, looking ahead to see what they were approaching. 

A Wolf was scratching at the base of a tree, its ribs showing easily through its fur. It was blue on its back and head while its chest, paws, and tail tip were a dirty white. Hyrule flew back to Twilight and whispered to him as quietly as he could, "It's a half-starved wolf digging around a tree." Twilight nodded and crept around until he was behind the starving creature.

Once he was in position, He lunged forward, deadly silent, and tackled the wolf to the side, scrambling to his feet between the wolf and the tree. He let out a threatening snarl and glared straight into the eyes of the other wolf. Hyrule used the opportunity to dart into the hole in the roots that the wolf was digging at

Four was unconscious on the ground, blood running down his arm and torso on his left side. Hyrule ran towards him and dropped to his knees, rolling him slightly to try and see if there were any other wounds. He seemed to have been scratched pretty badly, but Hyrule had no idea if the wounds could be infected or not.

He channeled his magic and started to try and stop the bleeding. That was all he would be able to do now before he got a chance to clean out the wounds. He wouldn't want to heal them if with dirt and grim still in there. He was startled by the sudden bark of one of the wolves, then he heard snarling and growling, followed by pained screams as they fought.

Now that Four was stable, Hyrule rushed to see what was happening. Twilight looked barely out of breath as they separated, not even a scratch on him, and the other wolf was panting heavily and crouched in front of him. With a final snarl from Twilight, the other wolf turned tail and fled into the forest. The second it was gone, Twilight hurried over towards them, worry painted across his face.

"I healed him enough to stop the bleeding, but I can't go any further without cleaning the wound, and he's too heavy for me to carry and fly for very long." Twilight nodded and stood just long enough to shake more of the dampness out of his fur before he lay down, belly on the ground, and gestured towards his back with his nose. Hyrule nodded in understanding before going back into the small shelter and gather Four gently into his arms.

He stumbled slightly as he walked outside again and began fluttering his wings as hard as he could. They were not meant to lift two people, but he barely managed to get high enough to land on Twilight's head. Once the two were relatively secure, Twilight carefully got to his feet and set off in a lope for the nearest source of water. 

There was a small stream running near the forest, the water nice and clear. Twilight continued a little farther until he found a nice little cove with an easier current before he stopped by a rock that was half in and half out of the water. Hyrule picked up Four again and lowered them both down near the water before getting to work.


	5. Death to the Champion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I'm writing this story, it's continuing to get darker. Just a warning in case some of you don't like blood or mentions / minor description of injuries, there's going to be a bit more of that in the next few chapters. It's pretty much impossible to avoid with the secrets that are getting revealed. Just keep that in mind!
> 
> Again this is unbeta'd and this chapter is barely edited, though I have rewritten in multiple times, so if there are errors or parts that don't make sense, feel free to let me know!

The rain and the cold was the first thing that Wild noticed when he woke up. He pushed himself up, using a rock nearby for support until he could stand on his own. The glowing blue shrine right next to him was a pretty good indication that they were in his Hyrule, and when he looked around to see that he was alone, he felt a small amount of fear for his companions. His world could be very dangerous for those who weren't used to it.

He was at the top of the dueling peaks, on the Faron side, and as he looked around, he saw movement a good distance down the mountain. Using his slate to zoom in, he saw drenched pink fur and let out a brief sigh of relief before heading towards the grumpy rabbit, taking care to not slip on the wet rock.

He's almost close enough to call out when disaster strikes. Legend must have hit an extra slippery portion of rock, because the rabbit's legs slid out from under him and soon he was sliding uncontrollably towards the edge of the rock, towards a painful fall, if not a fatal one. 

Reacting instinctively, Wild lept forwards and pulled out his glider, falling towards the rabbit as fast as he could, dropping and redeploying the glider to go faster. He arrived just as his friend went off the ledge, a panicked screech ripping through the air.

Letting go with one hand, Wild managed to wrap his arm around the rabbit's middle, pulling him into his side so he wouldn't fall. Claws dug painfully through his sleeve and slightly into his arm, but Wild didn't mind. Legend let out a squeak after a few seconds.

"I can't understand what you just said, but I'll assume it was a thank you." He feels Legend relax slightly and the claws aren't digging into his arm anymore, so he was pretty sure he was right.

His other arm was getting tired from holding onto the glider and he stumbled slightly as his feet hit the ground. Now that they were both safe, Wild could safely turn his attention to the now shivering rabbit he was holding onto. He pulled the warm doublet out of his slate and began wrapping it around Legend to help him warm up a bit before pulling his pack forward. With only a brief moment of hesitation, he got the rabbit settled.

He had made sure to hide the slight spots of blood from his friend, determined to not make him guilty, and after a quick sip of a potion, the wounds healed and the rain had already washed out the majority of the blood. "Do you want me to keep the pack open so you can see? Otherwise, I can close it so you can get dry." After a quick nod, Wild flipped the cover closed, but not completely, so Legend could poke his head out if he felt inclined.

Now with both hands, he made faster progress down the mountains and towards the Highland Stable. The trees in the jungle blocked most of the rain, so it wasn't nearly as bad as the exposed rock, and the movement helped him warm up. 

Eventually, the rain dyed down, leaving just the sound of the dripping leaves and a distant stream. The peace was disturbed by a violently shaking bush as a half-starved wolf darted out and past him, not even glancing his way. He felt a paw on his shoulder as Legend peeked out and looked after it. "That's odd. Those types of wolves never come this far south, there's a lot less big game for them to eat..."

Suddenly, Legend was leaping out of Wilds pack and darting off into the trees, Wild scrambling to follow. It was difficult, but the pink of Legends fur made it a little easier to see him through the leaves. They broke out into a small clearing, the ground completely torn up with claw marks scratched deep into the ground. 

"It looks like something fought that wolf we saw earlier. From these marks, it must have been another wolf or an extremely large dog." The wheels were turning in his mind as he debated the possibility that it could have been Twilight. He saw Legend creep up to a tree with a particularly torn up base, and Wild could see a streak of something that looks suspiciously like blood peeking out of the gap between two roots.

"Is that..." Legend nodded, peering into the gap. "are either of them in there?" Legend must have known who he was talking about, but he shook his head, resulting in Wild letting out a relieved breath.

"That means they might be ok." There was still a shred of doubt, but there was more hope. Legend nodded distractedly before his ears perked straight up and he tensed, standing to his full height as if hearing something. 

Wild was ready this time as the rabbit darted off and easily kept pace with him until he could hear what had caught the bunny's attention. There was the sound of pained shouting, and then a scream followed by a loud splash. 

Wild barely even noticed as Legend jumped back into his pack as he continued forward, pulling the flap closed so he was hidden. He reached the wooded bridge leading over the river heading south and froze at the sight. A Yiga footsoldier was floating in the water, eerily still. Many bite marks were littering his body as the water turned slightly pink around him. Wild sprinted upriver and drew his bow as he went. He turned a corner and let off a shot before he had even fully seen what was going on.

He was glad he did. A group of about 5 more Yiga was gathered around a familiar Dark grey and white wolf, who lay panting on the ground, bleeding from many cuts across his body. The arrow a lodged itself in the ribs of the Yiga who had his Scythe raised and was about to bring it down on Twilight.

Instead of starting the toward motion of the cut, the Yiga kept going back until he toppled over, startling the others around him. Wild drew three more arrows and fired them all at once, hit 3 of the remaining Yiga, the last one falling seconds later.

Wild fell to his knees beside his mentor, pulling out his slate and pulling out a potion. Twilight's blue eyes were still open and they looked over Wild's shoulder to Legend, who was frozen in shock. He let out a quiet whine and, when Legend didn't immediately move, growled slightly louder.

Wild glanced over his shoulder as Legend hopped out of the bag and disappeared into the rocks nearby before turning his attention back to Twilight. He opened the potion and carefully poured it over the worst of the wounds, sighing in relief as the bleeding slowed to a stop. With the other half of the potion, he managed to get Twilight to drink it before the Wolf slumped to the ground, completely unconscious.

After assuring himself that there were no other injuries, Wild tried to make sure Twilight was as comfortable as possible before settling down with the wolf's head in his lap, stroking the thick fur gently, waiting for Legend to return.

It wasn't long before a pink head poked up from the rocks, quickly followed by the rest of the bunny. On his back, as barely conscious Hyrule was holding onto a passed out Four. Reaching forward, Wild allowed Hyrule to fall sideways onto his hand and gently picked up Four so he wouldn't fall off Legends back, transferring them both to his knee so he could hear.

Fours multi-colored tunic was stained a dark red on his left side, though as Wild quickly checked him over, there were no signs of any wounds. "What happened, are you guys alright?" Hyrule leaning back on his hands, slumped in exhaustion. "We are now. Do you have a magic potion? I'm completely drained from healing Four." Wild nodded and pulled a bottle out, and the smallest acorn he could find, pulling the top off before filling it with the potion and passing it to the fairy.

After the cap was empty, Hyrule's glow brightened slightly and the bags under his eyes faded a bit so he looked less dead. "Twilight found me in the middle of a field, hiding from the rain, then together we went looking for everyone else. We found Four in the forest with a starved wolf trying to get him, so Twi chased it away. He hasn't been awake at all." 

Then Hyrule seemed to realize something as he turned to look at Twilight. "We came here so I could heal Four, but 5 people showed up and attacked Twilight, saying something about 'the Hero's mutt'. I was forced to hide with Four. is he going to be ok? It sounded pretty bad." Wild stroked the fur on Twilight's head and neck, humming softly as he examined the rapidly heal wounds on the wolf's side. 

"He's already most healed, he just needs rest for a few more hours." Wild glanced at his slate and winced when he saw a thunderstorm was on its way. "We need to get to a stable. It's going to start raining again in about an hour, and it's bringing lightning with it." 

Before he could begin getting ready to go, he noticed Four starting to stir. He watched as Hyrule kneeled next to their friend, making sure he was alright. Suddenly, Four jerked away and scrambled backward, Wild having to quickly reach forward to keep him from falling. 

Hyrule gripped Fours shoulders tightly, trying to get his attention, and Wild watched worriedly as Four finally calmed down.

"Hyrule? They... they got you too?" Hyrule shook his head, a look of confusion on his face. "What do you mean? Who's 'they'?" Four seemed to realize where he was when he eventually looked up at Wild. "There were these guys in black and red clothing with white masks. I was with Sky looking for you guys when they attacked us. I fell off Sky's shoulder as they cut me across the side, though I don't think they even knew I was there." At the reminder of his injury, Four glanced at his side and arm, seeing the torn and bloodied fabric but no wound. 

"They took Sky, said something about him being 'a friend of the hero' then they were gone, just in a flash of red light and strange white papers. I had to find somewhere to try and hide and heal, but I got cornered by that wolf under that tree. I take it that's where you found me?" Hyrule nodded, still looking confused.

Wild felt rage coiling in his gut as Four continued his story, barely even hearing it after he mentioned the Yiga. They took Sky, they were either trying to take or kill Twilight, who knows how many of the others they already had. He was drawn out of his fury by a small hand resting against his palm as both Hyrule and Four stared at him. 

That's right. He still had friends he needed to protect. They were all vulnerable or hurt or both. "The Yiga. They are followers of Ganon who have been dedicating their lives to finding and killing me for a hundred years. It looks like they're tired of looking and are trying to get me to go to them."


	6. Behind Enemy Lines Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the first part of an extra-long chapter that we decided to split. And yes, I did say we, and no it was not a typo. As a writer, I have my strengths and weaknesses, so I had to phone a friend. Linked_Aurica was amazing enough to collaborate with me on this chapter and it's second part to overcome those weaknesses and make these chapters so much better. They are such a fun person to work with and at this point, I'm sure we share a brain. If you haven't already, I strongly suggest you head over and check out their profile and their other fics.
> 
> I did actually have a beta reader this time, the lovely InnerGlow from the LU discord, and they were extremely helpful in fixing all the mistakes, typos, and strange grammar that I miss the first time around!
> 
> I won't keep you any longer, enjoy the chapter!

"Tell me! HOW?" a voice bounced through Warriors’ head, followed by a splashing sound and a struggle. Upon opening his eyes, he was met by the sight of a yiga footsoldier, dumping Time’s head in a tub of water. The older hero was sputtering and coughing, giving Warriors the thought that Time must have breathed when under the water. He then noticed the unnatural stance he was in and the ache in his ankles and shoulders, and it soon dawned on him that he was bound to a wooden pole, forced upright by the bindings around his neck, wrists, and ankles. 

He took in more of his surroundings, seeing that Sky and Wind were also strapped down; Sky in a chair and Wind against the wall. Left of him was a table full of dirty knives and other tools, and he got the feeling something wasn’t right. Fear gripped around his heart like ice. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like this at all. "Stupid idiot," the footsoldier said, grabbing Warriors’ attention; the soldier had grabbed Time by the hair, forcing the hero to look up to the daunting masked face. The part that Warriors didn’t get was what they were looking for and why Time wasn’t fighting back. “How does he continue to live? If you tell us, We’ll stop.” Time’s jaw clenched and Warriors could only watch helplessly as his friend was struck across the face, still remaining silent.

The footsoldier again dumped Time’s head in the bucket and held him there. Unfortunately, he was not the only one awake, but he was the only one who had the urge to bide his time. “Time!" Sky’s voice echoed through the room, he had woken at the moment their mentor was being drowned. To this, Time was released and thrown to the side, left alone to cough a concerning amount of water out of his lungs and across the ground. Warriors had the sinking feeling that Sky would be next. He saw Time trying to get up, but it soon was clear that he was utterly spent. He glared at the footsoldier who had made their way to Sky, but could do nothing to stop them.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Once Hyrule and Four had moved back onto Legends back, Wild got to his feet and checked over Twilight injuries again, satisfied that he could be moved safely. Bracing himself, he managed to get the wolf across his shoulders, grunting with the effort. "There's a stable about a 2 or 3-hour walk from here, and if we hurry we might be able to beat the storm." He began the trek to the Highland stable, his steps getting easier as he adjusted to the added weight.

They moved as quickly as they could, Wild keeping his eye on Legend to make sure nothing was approaching and that everyone was still alright. Wild had begun to notice a slight limp in Legends gait, and he wasn't sure when it started. "Legend. You're limping." The limp disappeared, but now that Wild had mentioned it, he could see Hyrule and Four talking quietly to each other before occasionally leaning down to talk to their friend. 

"He said it can wait. It's not like we have much of a choice." Wild glared disapprovingly but didn't say anymore. He couldn't really, he was too out of breath. The stable came into view right as the first few drops began to fall. Legend ran ahead and managed to get into the shelter before he got too damp, sparing his passengers as well. Wild and Twilight weren't so lucky. Wild silently apologized to his mentor as he felt the thick fur quickly getting soaked. The other occupants of the stable stared at him as he stumbled through the door, a wolf draped over his shoulders.

Legend hadn't followed him in, instead, hiding in some shelter outside until Wild could sneak them in. He headed to a back corner before gently lifting Twilight off his shoulders and laying him down. He pulled his blanket out and began using it to try and dry the soaked fur so twilight wouldn't freeze, and when he was sure he could leave the wolf for a second, he went back outside and got Legend, Four, and Hyrule. The small Hylian and the fairy hid in his hair while he just carried Legend in and set him near where Twilight was resting.

He walked up to the stable owner, Padok, and handed him 50 rupees, saying he would just take a regular bed, but he waved him off as he tried to give Wild his change. "Consider it compensation for the confusion with the animals." Padok looked as if he was going to continue protesting, but Wild just walked away before he could. 

Wild sat on the bed nearest Twilight and pretended to go through his pack and remove his hood, while he was really giving Four and Hyrule somewhere to sleep, and they quietly thanked him before disappearing into the fabric. 

Now that they were settled he moved back to Twilight and Legend. Without giving Legend a chance to flee, he picked up the rabbit and grimaced when he saw one of Legend's paws were bloody and swollen slightly. "Was this from on the mountain?" The rabbit nodded guiltily, not meeting his gaze. "You know you'll have to take a potion for that, right? It could get infected."

Wild managed a small smile at the disgusted expression on the rabbit's face at the mention of the potions. Wild held on firmly with one hand while he got the offending item out, not letting Legend try and escape. He only released him when the bottle was empty. Legend hopped away from him the moment he could, gagging dramatically and drawing out another smile. 

He took the damp blanket from around Twilight and frowned at it, wondering how he could dry it out, but a quiet voice from behind him spoke up. "We have some towels you could use if you'd like. They're normally for the horses, but they should work for your... Dog." He turned to see Phanna, the stable hand, standing behind him, holding a stack of fluffy, but old, towels. 

He smiled gratefully and took them with a nod. "Thank you. He's perfectly safe you know. Saved my life and others more than I can count." She nodded, not looking like she completely believed him, but she seemed more relaxed as she walked away.

He got to work, rubbing the less soaked fur with the towel, running his fingers through it occasionally to make sure it didn't get matted. Finally, tired arms and 2 wet towels later, Twilight was nearly completely dry, his fur sticking up oddly in a few places. He absentmindedly ran his hand across the wolf's side, smoothing the fur as he went. 

He was impatient to keep moving, but with the storm, they had no choice but to wait. Their friends could be dead or dying, and Wild was just sitting here. He ran his fingers over the new scars on Twilights side, now looking weeks or maybe a full month old, instead of the fresh wounds they had been just hours ago. 

There was a slight pressure on his thigh and he turned to see Legend looking up at him, his front paws planted on Wild's leg so he could get his attention. Once Wild acknowledged him, Legend hopped into his lap, getting comfy between his crossed legs. Wild froze in surprise at the action before he rested a hand hesitantly on the rabbit's back, half expecting to get bitten for trying to pet him, but Legend just rested his head on his front paws.

So Wild sat, a pink bunny in his lap and a massive wolf lying to his side, and hand buried in each animal's soft fur. He wasn't sure how much time had passed before he noticed Twilight take an unusually large breath before letting it out in a sigh, and when he looked up he was met with half-open blue eyes. Instantly, a knot he didn't even realize was there unraveled in his chest. 

"Welcome back to the land of the living." Twilight let out a soft snort before he pushed himself up to his feet, shaking out his fur once he was upright before moving to push Wild towards the bed. "Alright, alright I'm going." He carefully picked up Legend, who was still asleep and moved over to the bed, setting Legend down next to the bundle of fabric where Four and Hyrule were hiding. He allowed himself to be bullied into bed, and he nearly fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. He stayed awake just long enough to see Twilight sniffing the fabric to make sure Four and Hyrule were there before curling up next to the bed, Wild's fingers barely brushing the fur on his back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again I want to thank Linked_Aurica for their help on this chapter, they were such a joy to work with and I hope you guys go and take a look at their fics if you haven't already! Thanks for reading and I'll see you next chapter!


	7. Behind Enemy Lines Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2! Again, Warrior's perspective was written by the lovely Linked_Aurica and I could not have gotten this result without them! If you haven't taken a peek at their profile, please do because their fics are really fun to read. It once again had a beta reader, the one and only Innerglow, who definately saved us from some wonderful grammar errors and typos XD.
> 
> Thank you for your patience, and now...
> 
> THE CHAPTER

Sky was dragged to the middle of the room, still tied to the chair. Warriors was scared for what was going to happen, scared of what the yiga  _ might _ do to Sky. The soldier walked around the Skyloftian and Warriors could feel them smile wickedly. "So you care about your friend, don’t you?" Sky didn’t answer. "You care about others. Friends, family," the soldier continued, “a special someone maybe?" Warriors saw Sky tense and it seemed to have caught on to the yiga as well. "You know, if you did care about your friends, you shouldn’t be associated with that pesky little hero," they said, leaning into Sky. "It might get that special someone killed." 

It was a whisper, but Warriors heard it and nearly felt his heart leap out of his chest.  _ They mean his Zelda!,  _ he realized. He saw Sky struggling with the idea, but both then realized that Sky’s Zelda was very far away and was out of harm’s reach. It calmed Sky and he looked at the masked soldier but stayed quiet. Warriors frantically tried to think of something to get them out of this mess, but his mind was empty. For the first time, fear kept him from thinking straight. He ended up not having to. Time seemed to move on pure adrenaline - after his coughing fit- when he got up and charged at the sneering yiga. 

Warriors saw the pure anger on his mentor’s face and in the next moment, Time was on the ground, the Yiga looming over him and holding a knife to his throat. "I thought you were smarter than this. I guess I was wrong." As he spoke, he waved the knife inches from Time’s face. Warriors hoped the yiga wouldn't do anything, but then again; the yiga were desperate according to what Wild had once told him and they would do anything to get to their goal. "Now you’ve got to choose. Who will pay for your mistake?" Warriors felt his heart squeeze. He had to think fast. "Take me!" The yiga and Time both looked at him in surprise. He saw Time trying to send a silent message but the yiga caught onto it. "Well, since no one is making a choice, I’ll do it for you."

The yiga got up and walked over to Wind. Warriors’ blood felt like ice in his body.  _ Not him! _ his mind screamed. He started to struggle against the restraints, ignoring the aching in his muscles. His sight on Wind was obstructed by the yiga standing before the young hero but he could hear the whimpering. "Let’s see… What would be nice to remember us by?" the yiga said, lifting his knife. Warriors couldn’t exactly see what the yiga did but he judged from the way the arm was moved, it was aiming at Wind’s face. "Oh, I know. I’ll make you one of us!" 

Before the knife could land, Warriors was overcome by a burning rage. The adrenaline shot through his body and he broke out of his restraints in one quick movement. He let out a battle cry and ran to the yiga, throwing himself against them. A struggle started. Warriors got hold of the knife for a brief moment but the yiga knew how to get control back. They turned and pulled at the knife, causing Warriors to lose his balance. 

The next moment was a blur to the blue scarfed hero. One second he was struggling for the knife, the next he lay on top of the yiga, the knife embedded in the latter's body. A sudden yell got him out of his stupor. "Tatsuo!" Footsteps closed in and a blinding pain flashed through his skull as something collided with the side of his head. Warriors’ vision was filled with swirling colors and movement. He was yanked to his feet by his scarf, momentarily closing off his windpipe. "What the fuck did you do?" the voice screamed. Warriors saw the figure run over to the lifeless body, turning them around. Through his still blurry vision, Warriors saw what had happened; the knife had ended up just under the yiga’s, now known as Tatsuo, diaphragm. "I will  _ end  _ you," the figure said. 

Soon Warriors was back where he started; tied to the pole. But this time he was wrapped up from chest to legs, but still leaving parts open, something that confused the hero. It was incredibly tight, making it hard to breathe. His vision had cleared, revealing the blade master standing in front of him. "You killed my son," a heavy voice sounded behind the mask, indicating this was the father of the dead soldier, " and because of that, you shall suffer!" 

Warriors watched as the blade master walked over to a pile of wood, walking back and surrounded the knight with it. The blade master then proceeded to grab a torch and said with a rage-filled voice: "I will have my revenge, for my name is Izo!" and set the wood on  _ fire. _ Panic immediately crashed over Warriors. He was  _ terrified  _ of fire. It was one thing that he just couldn’t deal with. "Are you scared?" Izo mocked. Even though the fire was far enough to not burn the blonde, he still felt the heat radiating off of it. 

In a swirl of smoke and orange light, Izo disappeared and appeared right in front of Warriors with a metal rod in his hands, a few more on the ground at his feet, both men now in the middle of the ring of fire. "You know, there’s something interesting about metal," Izo started, holding the rod over the fire, "it is a great conductor of many things. One of them;  _ heat _ ." Warriors didn’t like the way Izo spoke. And before he could say anything, the rod made contact with his chainmail that poked above his tunic. 

Heat slowly crept through. Getting hotter and hotter, Warriors bit his tongue to refrain him from screaming out. If Izo hadn’t been wearing his mask, Warriors knew he would see the maniacal glint in the enemy’s eyes. The pain was getting unbearable, vision getting spotty when the rod was removed and the heat slowly died down. Breathing hard, Warriors fought to stay conscious. A slap across his face brought him back. "Don’t pass out on me! You’ll miss the fun," Izo said. 

Warriors lost track of how many times he was prodded with the hot steel. The pain after the fact was worse than he could imagine. He wanted it to stop  _ so badly _ , it had reached the point where he didn’t even care how. Izo seemed to be tired of Warriors’ lack of reaction as he took a new rod and brought it towards his neck. Warriors closed his eyes, ready to take whatever was gonna happen, but nothing came. Upon opening his eyes he saw that a yiga stood next to Izo, whispering something. Izo put down the rod and looked at Warriors. "I would want to kill you now, but it would be more fun to do this in front of the champion." Izo vanished once again and appeared outside the ring of fire. 

"Take them outside to the pit. We have a show to put on."

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

He woke suddenly, Dreamless black replaced with a dark ceiling and refreshing silence replaced with soft breathing. The reality of their situation hit him and he sat up, feeling a wash of relief when he saw the morning sky was dark but clear. Padok was already up and shuffling around quietly behind his counter.

He looked up as Wild approached and greeted him with a smile. “I take it that wolf of yours is doing better?” Wild nodded, glancing back briefly to see Twilight still sleeping peacefully next to the bed, Legend still curled up by the barely visible mound of fabric next to the pillow. “Yes, much. Thank you for letting me bring him in here, I know it couldn’t have been great for business.”

Wild sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck, realizing the inconvenience he likely caused the kind stable owner. “Don’t work about that. You paid more than enough to cover any cost. Were you going to head out this morning?” Nodding, Wild quickly decided which horse would be fastest and after waiting a few minutes for Padok to grab the mentioned steed, He quickly saddled the Black mare and made sure he had everything ready to go before giving her a gentle pat on the neck and heading inside to collect his friends.

Twilight was sitting up with his ears pricked and body tensed when Wild approached, though the second the wolf saw him he visibly relaxed. “Sorry, I was getting a horse ready before I woke you guys up so you could sleep more.” Twilight gave a slight huff in acknowledgment as he shook out his coat and Wild moved to the rabbit still sleeping on the bed. 

He carefully picked him up, deciding not to wake him yet, and settled him in the crook of one of his arms, using the other hand to cautiously move the fabric aside so he could wake up Four and Hyrule. He gently nudged their shoulders, happy to see them waking up without any other prompting. 

“It’s time to go, I have a horse ready.” They nodded sleepily and he subtly helped them onto his shoulder and put on his hood, pulling it up over his head and giving the two heros a place to hide. He headed back out to the horse once he made sure he had everything, including the still slightly damp blanket. “Safe travels, Link.” Wild nodded to Padok as he left with a forced smile, the anxiety growing the longer he spent sitting here waiting instead of rushing to the Yiga hideout.

He swung himself up into the saddle with some difficulty, considering he only had one hand but was eventually settled. He glanced over as Twilight trotted over and nodded to himself as he saw no limp or stiffness in his friend’s stride. “Ready? It’s gonna be a bit of running considering we have to cross most of Hyrule as fast as possible.” Twilight nodded and stretched slightly, shaking himself briefly so he was as ready as he could be.

They moved quickly, the horse at an easy lope that Wild knew it could keep up for hours, and Twilight running alongside, keeping a lookout for any enemies that might slow them down. Once Legend woke up, he moved to sit on the saddle right behind the horse’s neck so Wild could have both hands, one of which was now holding his bow, the other still on the reigns.

“So what’s the plan here exactly? Just run into their hideout?” Fours voice by his ear startled him and he briefly glanced at the small hero before turning his gaze back to the road in front of him.

“No, they probably know I’m coming this time, so that won’t work again.” He debated his options before he came to a decision. “It still wouldn’t be too hard to sneak around in the base, but they will have a lot of guards on the others, so it’s unlikely we’ll be able to free them without a fight.” an idea was beginning to form and he smiled despite the situation. 

“They don’t know about you guys though, and they probably think Twilight’s dead.” The wolf in question glanced up at his name. “Even if they know he survived, they probably think he’s just a wolf, so they’ll underestimate him.” If wolves could smirk, Twilight was certainly doing it now.

Wild explained his plan under his breath as they rode, not wanting any hiding Yiga to hear him, Four and Hyrule adding the occasional input, and Four translating any ideas that Legend or Twilight provided. 

They stopped only once around midday so Twilight could rest and they could all get a quick drink and eat something. They were all anxious to keep moving though, so it was only about 30 minutes before they set out again, both Twilight and the horse mostly refreshed from the stop.

They reached the canyon stable as the sun was beginning to dip towards the horizon, and Wild stiffly dismounted the horse and left it with the stable owner, thanking her for her hard work as he did by rubbing her neck lightly before he turned to continue walking out into the desert, Twilight and Legend walking (or hopping) beside him. 

The heat hit them like a wall, and Wild quickly pulled out his slate and switched to his Voe armor and sand boots, breathing in relief as the oppressive layers of thick clothes were replaced with the cool thin fabric of the desert attire. 

Luckily, as the sun was beginning to set, the heat wasn’t at its worst, so they actually managed to make some good time. They followed the cliffs along the northern edge of the desert, avoiding the hiding Lizalfos and enemy camps as they went. 

The heat rapidly faded as night approached and soon Wild was forced to stop and find a sheltered area to set up a fire when he felt Hyrule and Four huddling against his neck and he saw Legend shivering as he went. “Let’s stop here for the night. We are only about 4 hours walk away from the base now and I want us to be rested.”

Twilight turned from his spot a few feet ahead of the group and trotted back, favoring his freshly healed side slightly. Deciding to deal with it once they were all safe and warmed up, he pulled out some wood from his slate and set up a fire in a small alcove in the mountains. He sat facing the rest of the desert, the fire between him and the seemingly endless rolling sands. 

He switched back to his regular blue tunic and his hood, but he did put on his snowquill pants to take some of the edge off the cold. He smiled at Twilight as the wolf slipped between him and the rocks, letting him lean back slightly into the warm fur, and he was not surprised when Legend hopped into his lap, huddling down away from the cold air.

The small group sat in the empty night, quietly figuring out the rest of their plan before they began to nod off one by one until it was just Wild awake. He absently stroked Legends fur with one hand and Twilight’s head with the other, gazing out into the empty darkness. He knew he wouldn’t be getting any sleep that night, not when there was so much at stake tomorrow.


	8. The Pain We Cannot See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again Aurica helped me with portions of this chapter so I could make sure things were accurate! Warnings for descriptions of PTSD, so if this is going to be hard to read please take your time or you can skip that part all together if needed.
> 
> It's starts after "the scream wasn't Izo's anymore..."
> 
> And ends at "The sound of fighting continued around him..."

Wind struggled as he was dragged through the halls of the Yiga clan hideout, Time and Sky were ahead of him, but neither of them were struggling like the youngest hero, instead they were looking around, seemingly calm.

Warriors was being dragged at the back of the group, half-conscious and still completely tied up. He hadn’t reacted too much since they started burning him, and Wind was worried he had a concussion from the blow to the head he had taken when trying to save him. 

They entered a small room with a lot of flags along the wall and Wind watched as Izo went up to a portion of the wall and pushed, revealing a hidden entrance to a much larger space. Wind blinked at the sudden light and he almost instantly began sweating. They were now in a massive cavern that opened up to the sky on one end. There was a massive pit in the center with four wooden pillars, and the 3 heros were marched (and dragged) towards them before having their arms pulled roughly behind their backs and round the wood before being tightly tied.

Wind glared at Izo as he walked in front of them all before coming to a stop in front of Warriors. 

“Our friend is nearly here. How should we greet him? I was thinking… how about a scream.” 

Two Yiga soldiers stepped through the line of guards and approached the pair, an Iron container held between them with fire flickering out of the opening and a long metal stick with a wooden handle sticking out. “Do you know what this is?” Izo grabbed the wooden handle and pulled the red hot metal out of the container, waving it around inches from Warrior’s face, and Wind could see flinch back slightly from the heat. “It doesn’t matter. What does matter, is that you killed my son, and for that, you’ll suffer before you die.”

He couldn’t breathe. The knot in his chest was so tight he couldn’t make a sound as he could only watch the burning hot iron get closer to Warrior’s face. He locked gazes with the older hero and he could see the fear in them before they were squeezed shut. Wind could hear Time and Sky struggling to free themselves, shouting at the Yiga to stop, but he could only watch with growing horror, trying to prepare himself for the inevitable screaming that was about to begin.

His inability to look away gave him the privilege of being one of the only people to actually see what happened next, though, he wasn’t really sure he could even explain what he saw. One second, The iron was there, the next it wasn’t. An arrow had nicked Izo’s wrist and past them, one of the Soldiers near the fire was wavering slightly with an arrow buried in their chest, before they toppled over directly into the flames. 

Nobody seemed to even breathe as the air was filled with a horribly familiar stench. There was a flutter of fabric from behind the trapped heros, but Wind couldn’t turn to confirm what he was already almost certain of. Boot’s hit it sand and there was the familiar sound of a paraglider being stowed in the Sheikah slate

Izo was gripping his bleeding wrist and Wind could tell, even with the mask, that he was glaring behind him at Wild. “Well, if it isn’t the  _ nobel hero _ . Here to stab my people in the back and kill them from the shadows.” Wind heard footsteps walking towards Izo from behind him until Wild came into view. He had his bow in his hand and an ice arrow nocked to the string, but he hadn’t drawn it yet.

“What happened to the mutt? Did it not make it? So sorry for your loss.” Wind felt the blood drain from his face when Wild didn’t respond, merely hunching in on himself slightly, anger burning in his gaze. There was a choked sound from Winds right and he turned to see pain written on Time’s face as the oldest of the Heros seemed to crumble. Sky and Warriors were both frozen in shock, disbelief clear on their faces.

“Awww, Did I hit a nerve?” Izo’s voice nearly dripped with fake sympathy, not even trying to mask the hatred he felt. Wild stayed tense for a few seconds before he replaced the arrow in his quiver and put the bow away. He pushed his hood down and met Izo with a steady gaze. “It’s me that you want, not them.” 

Wind didn’t know what he was expecting, but for Izo to burst into crazed laughter was not it. “That might have worked, hero... If your friend here,” Izo paused and spun around suddenly to face Warriors, driving a fist into his stomach and forcing a choked cough from the soldier before he faced Wild once again and continued. “...hadn’t killed my son. Now I want you all dead.” Wild’s eyes widened in surprise and Wind watched as he took a half step forward before stopping clenching his hands into fists.

Suddenly, there was a slight pressure on Winds bound hands, almost like… He had to fight back a sudden jolt when he realized it was either Four or Hyrule. He only paid half attention to what was going on in front of him as he felt the bonds around his wrists loosen until they fell silently to the ground.

While this was happening, Wild was walking around the bottomless pit towards Izo, and Wind now realized what was happening. Wild was distracting the yiga so Four or Hyrule, or both of them actually, could free the captive heros. “He wouldn’t have had to kill your son if you hadn’t taken them in the first place, you caused this. You put him in danger, and now he’s dead.” Wild's voice grew more intense as he spoke, and though they couldn’t see his face, Wind could sense the despair that Izo must have been feeling as the champion continued, “It’s no one's fault but your own.”

That was the last straw it seemed, and Izo drew his sword and disappeared in an orange flash, appearing before Wild in the middle of a messy downward slash. There was a spark of blue and suddenly there was a sword in Wild’s hand and he easily parried the blow, sending the Yiga leader sprawling. Everyone tensed as Izo slowly got to his feet and turned to face Wild. 

“You forget. You have no power here hero.” At his words, the Yiga surrounding them drew their weapons, and some even began walking towards the ‘trapped’ heros. Yet, one thing the yiga did not know, is that only one of the heros was still tied. As a Yiga moved to swing at him, Wind stepped towards them, slamming his arm into their elbow and forcing them to drop their weapon when there was a loud crack. He grabbed the dropped knife and turned just in time to block an attack from another soldier behind him. 

The sound of clashing steel rose up throughout the cavern and Wind could see the others fighting with their own makeshift weapons. Warriors was still mostly bound, but the top half of the ropes had fallen to the ground and he was gripping the wrists of a yiga soldier who was straining to reach him.

Wind was drawn back to his fight when he was forced to parry another strike. He grunted at the weight behind it, his arm aching at the impact, but he fought on. There was too much at stake for him to fail. 

Determination only got him so far though. He never really had to fight people very often, much more used to the predictable and brainless monsters. He was slowly becoming overwhelmed by the speed and power behind the Yigas attack, and eventually, his weapon was knocked to the side and he stumbled. There was no way he would be able to get his weapon between himself and the Yiga in time to stop the incoming slash, and he winced and closed his eyes, preparing for the pain of the blow.

There was a loud snarl and something flew past him, almost knocking him over from the movement. He opened his eyes in shock to see a mass of grey and white fur standing in front of him, the Yiga dead on the ground. “...Twi?” His voice broke. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. 

The other Yiga around them had frozen in shock at the sudden appearance of the massive and furious wolf. Wind wanted to drop everything then and throw his arms around the Ordonian, but logic won out and he resolved to hug Twilight later when they were not at risk of being impaled. 

Instead, he grinned and charged forward towards where Warriors was holding off Izo, his legs finally free but noticeably unsteady. He felt joy in his heart when he heard Twilight behind him, not quite grasping that he was alive. He watched as the last of Warriors ropes fell away and the captain fell forward, using his momentum to throw a punch and Izo’s head and forcing the Yiga to take a few steps back.

A small light came into view from behind where Warriors had been bound to the wooded post, but it seemed that Wind was not the only one to notice it. A Yiga began heading for Hyrule, and Wind could only try and cry out a warning to his friend. 

He watched in horror as the Yiga swiped at the fairy, barely missing as Hyrule darted up and out of the blades path. The Yiga prepared to swing again, but suddenly stumbled as a pink blur slammed into his face, knocking him off balance and to the ground. There was a screech of pain as the Yiga cruelly grabbed a handful of Legends fur and threw the rabbit to the side. 

Wind and Twilight swiftly took down the last few Yiga in their path, but the sailor hesitated when he couldn't decide who to go help. Warriors was struggling to hold off the Yiga blade master while Legend was doing his best to protect Hyrule while heavily limping and missing patches of fur on his side. .

Twilight pushed him towards Warriors with a meaningful look before running towards Legend and Hyrule. Wind realized the older hero was right and ran towards the struggling hero. He saw the Wolf leap over the Yiga, shoving him into the ground before spinning around so he stood over the injured rabbit with the fairy hovering over his shoulder, facing the fallen soldier with a terrifying snarl.

Wind had to look away as he sprinted towards Izo and Warriors, reaching them right as Warriors legs gave out and the Hylian collapsed. Izo’s mask had been split in the battle, and Wind could see the hint of a grin through the crack and the Yiga lifted his blade to bring it down one final time.

Acting on pure instinct, Wind jumped. the winds were behind him as he flew through the air and he twisted in a horribly familiar way before aiming his weapon down and landing with his feet planted on Izos shoulders and the blade of his weapon buried in his head. He blinked, and suddenly it was no longer Izo standing beneath him, but Ganondorf. The scream wasn't Izo's anymore… 

His breath caught in his throat and he lost his grip on his weapon and fell, not even registering that someone had caught him before he hit the ground. He stared without seeing, only feeling the growing horror at what he had done.

He felt hands grip his shoulders and scrambled backwards, batting them away. His chest burned and he couldn’t breath, just seeing Ganondorf as a stone statue with a sword in his head. He buried his face in his hands and curled into a ball, trying to block out the images of what he had done. Someone who had been ALIVE was now standing before him with his sword in their head as a stone statue, cold and empty.

He had killed many things on his journey, but they had been beasts. Not… not THIS. The smell of the iron of Gano- no -  _ Izo's  _ blood, entered his nose, making him nauseous. It was no longer the yiga hideout to him, he was back in  _ his  _ Hyrule… Ending his enemy. 

The hands were back, and this time he didn't have the strength to push them away, instead he could only curl himself away into an even smaller ball, trying to hide away from them. There was something warm behind him now, the presence giving him a small sense of comfort.

He leaned back slightly into the comforting warmth, trying to focus on it instead of his thoughts. The hands moved from his shoulder briefly and then arms wrapped around him pulling him into a loose embrace while not forcing him away from the warmth behind him. Breathing was getting easier and the visions were less clear, slowly fading to be replaced with the warm golds and reds of the desert canyon they were in

Soft fur brushed his hands and he looked over, surprised to see a pink rabbit pushing at his arms, eyes wide with concern. He hesitated slightly before reaching out and gently pulling the rabbit into his lap, hugging it to his chest as he caught his breath and the trembling slowed. He leaned into warriors embrace, the blue scarf giving him away. He glanced to his other side to see Twilight laying behind and beside him, ears pricked and constantly scanning the area around them.

The sound of fighting continued around him and he finally looked up and around. 

The others were gathered in a circle around the small huddle, fighting off the last of the Yiga who had been in the canyon, and Wind realized what had happened. 

"Welcome back sailor. You might want to loosen your grip on the rabbit, he's turning more purple than pink.," He instantly relaxed his arms and looked down at Legend in concern just in time to see the rabbit take a massive breath, but otherwise not move from his spot. 

“Sorry Legend.” Wind croaked, his voice barely more than a whisper. Legend let out a small squeak in response, though Wind couldn’t understand it. Twilight let out a low growl and Legend whipped around with an angry sound to glare at the wolf, who was  _ almost _ laughing. 

“You alright Wind?” Sky’s voice drew his attention and he saw the rest of the group had finally finished off the Yiga and now all of them but Wild was gathering around. “Yeah, I’m alright. We should go. There's bound to be a lot more Yiga on their way.”

Wild approached then, all of their confiscated weapons in his arms with a grim smile on his face. “I wouldn’t worry about them. We should get out of the blast radius though. I’ve died enough as it is.”

Everyone else grabbed their weapons, but Wind couldn’t bring himself to even touch the handle of his sword. Wild smiled in understanding and stored it in his slate, not even seeming to question Wind’s hesitation. 

“Wait, blast radius?!” Wind finally realized what Wild had said. Time looked like he wanted to say something as well, but seemed to realize he shouldn’t waste time and nothing he said would keep Wild from blowing everything up. Wind stood, but his legs were still a bit shaky, so he had to rely on Twilight’s support to keep from falling over. 

Time pulled Warriors arm over his shoulder to help the captain walk while Sky and Wild went ahead and behind the group, weapons out and keeping an eye on the surroundings. Legend hopped out of Winds arms and went over to Time, and Wind finally noticed that Four was on his shoulder. Time helped the small hero onto the rabbit's back, and Hyrule soon joined them. 

The ragged group began their trek out of the back of the ravine and into the snowy mountains that surrounded it. When they reached the beginning of the snow, Wild paused and handed out some warmer clothes to those who needed them before picking up Legend. He helped Four and Hyrule into his hood, which was pulled up now, and tucked Legend into his pack while everyone put on their extra layers or enchanted accessories.

Wind tugged on the hem of the snowquill tunic he had been given, still feeling cold creeping into his bones, but he knew it wasn’t actually from the chilly air. Twilight nudged him slightly, and he looked up slightly to see the hero looking at him with his ears pinned back in concern. “I’m alright, just a bit cold.” Wind forced a smile and tried to sound a little less destroyed inside.

“We should be far enough now.” Wild’s voice drew everyone's attention, and they didn’t even have a chance to stop him before he pushed something on his slate. For a second, nothing happened, but then there was a massive explosion from behind them. The sound hit them like a wall, and they all stumbled at the force.

Once the light and smoke had begun to clear, Wind could see the scorched sides of the canyon, and as he watched, part of the cliff began to collapse. It started with a few rocks rolling down the sides before it slowly built into a massive rock fall, the jarring sound of rocks crashing into each other putting Winds hair on end.

Though the sound was unpleasant, there was something invigorating about seeing that horrible place get reclaimed by the mountains. It proved that nothing like this would ever be able to happen to someone else for a very long time, if at all. They turned their attention away from the carnage and towards the long trek that awaited them, never looking back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again huge thanks to Linked_Aurica for helping write the PTSD scene so it was accurate!


	9. To Heal Among The Clouds

They didn’t spend too long in the snow, just going over a small hill before making their way down a slope cut through the mountains. There was a rocky bridge spanning the gap to connect the tall cliffs on either side, casting a long shadow on the group as they passed beneath it. 

They had to move carefully as they continued, the slope getting steeper as they left the mountains behind and approached the scattered hills and bluffs that lay before them, interspersed with shining rivers.

It was a nice change from the dark, dusty cave they had been kept in. Blood staining the sand, humorless laughter ringing within the walls… Sky shook his head sharply, refusing to go down that path. The Yiga had hurt them enough, no reason to allow them to continue after they were free.

As he took one more step forward, the ground seemed to disappear beneath his feet, and the sickening feeling of switching worlds washed over him, darkness filling his vision.

Cold wind whipped at his face and he blinked his eyes open to see the familiar sight of clouds coming up to meet him. Instinctively, he let out a piercing whistle. He looked around to see the forms of his friends falling beside him and he felt a thrill of fear. His loftwing would not be able to catch them all.

His whistle seemed to have woken them and Sky watched as Wild pulled out his paraglider and he instantly seemed to shoot up as the rest of the group fell past him. Sky maneuvered himself over to Time and Warriors, shoving his sailcloth into Time’s hands. 

There was a familiar call and he moved away from the other heros as his loftwing shot by, catching him like he always knew it would. He didn’t have a chance to greet his old friend before he had to spin around and direct them towards Twilight, whose wolf form didn’t give him the most control as he was falling. He swooped over the hero and quickly glanced down to make sure they had really caught him before turning and heading towards Wind, the only one of the group still falling.

The sailor landed behind him and immediately latched onto him, arms wrapped around his chest tightly. Sky breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that everyone had slowed down so they were no longer at serious risk of falling to their deaths, though Time and warriors were still falling a little too fast for his liking considering they were both hanging from the sailcloth, which was only meant for one person.

It was slightly funny to see Warriors latched onto Time like a monkey, arms wrapped around the older hero's shoulders and legs wrapped around his torso. However, he knew he couldn’t be laughing for long at this serious matter.

There was a cry from above, and a blue Loftwing darted past him catching the rapidly sinking heroes. He grinned in recognition and looked up to see a Black Loftwing picking up Wild. 

“Link! You’re home!” Zelda’s voice drew his attention back and he smiled at her brightly. Time was seated behind her and was in the middle of prying a still terrified Warriors off of him. Sky frowned slightly in concern when he saw Warriors wince as he moved.

“We can talk more up at Skyloft, some of us are a bit injured.” Zelda’s eyes widened slightly before she schooled her features and she nodded. 

Wind’s grip never loosened the entire flight, and though Sky was actually having some trouble breathing from the strong grip, he didn’t mention it to the sailor. The islands of Skyloft came into view through the clouds and he looked to his friends to see looks of awe of their faces. 

They had already been there at least once before, but it seemed they hadn’t gotten used to the sight of the magnificent floating islands. Honestly, he didn’t blame them. After spending so much time on the surface, he was so happy to be home and could really appreciate the beauty that he had come to take for granted.

The Loftwings seemed to move faster, sensing their riders excitement to get home. Zelda and the other Loftwing rider, who he could now see was Groose, landed on the island, while Sky’s Loftwing gently set Twilight down before following suit. 

“Come on Wind, we landed.” Wind practically threw himself to the ground, getting a good distance from Sky’s Loftwing as soon as he could. Sky couldn’t blame him. From what he knew of Winds adventure, the young sailor had good reason to fear large birds. Time helped Warriors to the ground from Zelda’s Loftwing, holding the captain up as he stumbled.

Sky was so distracted checking on his friends, he didn’t even hear Zelda approaching until he was tackled in a hug. He reflexively wrapped his arms around as he stumbled and managed to keep them from falling to the ground.

“I missed you,” She said quietly into his shoulder and he pulled her closer, burying his face in her hair. “I missed you too.” He wished he could stay here with her in his arms forever, but he knew he had to help his friends first. He tightened his hold briefly before taking a step back.

Zelda seemed to understand as she smiled at him before turning to his friends. 

“Here, we can take care of your wounds in the Academy.” She turned and led the way to one of the largest buildings in the small town, Groose helping Time support Warriors, who was dragging his feet more and more as the time passed.

Sky and Wild stayed on either side of Wind with their hands on his shoulders. Even though he was slightly steadier now, they could still feel how tense he was. They could hear soft clinking of metal on stone as Twilight followed behind them. It didn’t take long to reach the academy, and soon they were all settled in a medical wing.

Wild, Sky, and Twilight waited on the side of the room as Warrior, Wind, and Time were being looked over. Sky watched Wild head over to a nearby empty bed and sit on it, slipping out of his boots so he could pull his legs up as well. 

Wild carefully slipped his pack off his shoulders and opened it, gently reaching in to pull Legend out and into his lap so he could make sure he wasn’t injured. There was a choked squeak of pain as Wild moved the rabbit, and Sky and Twilight moved forward at the sound. Four slid down from Wilds shoulder to sit on his knee, near enough to Legend so he would be able to hear him clearly, closely followed by Hyrule.

“He says it’s his ribs. They were probably hurt when he was thrown by that Yiga earlier.” Sky sat down across from Wild and gently ran his hand over Legends side, feeling the very slight give. “They’re definitely broken. Do you have any healing items left?” Before Wild could answer, a soft pink glow drew both of their attentions back down to Wild’s lap.

Hyrule was carefully sitting on Legend’s back, his hands resting on Legend’s sides. They were what was causing the pink glow. They watched as Legend visibly relaxed and they could tell that he could breathe a bit easier. The pink light began to fade and Sky had to reach forward as Hyrule suddenly toppled backwards off of his perch, catching his friend before they could fall the decent distance to the bed.

“Hyrule?” Sky gently poked the seemingly unconscious fairy in his palm, but there was no response. Sky let out a soft sigh as he realized Hyrule must have spent all of his energy healing Legend and left nothing for himself. He carefully rearranged them until they seemed to be in a more comfortable position before returning his attention to Wild, Four, and Legend.

The rabbit was sitting up now, staring at the fairy in Sky's hand. “He’ll be fine, Legend. He just needs sleep.” He watched as the rabbit slumped in relief and Wild could finally run his hand gently over Legends sides to make sure the ribs were fully taken care of. There were small patches of fur missing, but it wasn’t terribly noticeable unless they looked for it. 

Once Wild was satisfied that Legend was fine, he turned his attention to Sky. “What happened to you guys while you were captured?” He seemed hesitant to ask, but Sky understood why it was necessary.

“They were holding Time’s head underwater when I woke up, but when I shouted they let him up. They didn’t do anything to me physically, but they tried to use Sun against me, not realizing she was in a completely different world.” Wild rested a sympathetic hand on Sky's knees as he spoke, and Sky smiled shakily before he continued.

“Time tried to get them to leave me alone, but they threw him back to the ground. Then… Then they got out a knife and went for Wind. I’m not quite sure what happened next, but suddenly Warriors was free and he managed to kill the Yiga who had been trying to get information from us.”

“Izo’s son,” Four said from where he was sitting cross-legged on Wilds knee, and Sky nodded confirmation.

“Izo came in and… it wasn’t pretty. They tied the Captain to a pyre and surrounded it with a ring of fire. You guys know how he already doesn’t like because of Volga. Well, Izo grabbed a metal rod and started using it to heat up Warriors chain mail, burning him slowly.” Sky choked off, gritting his teeth slightly and looking away from his friends only to meet Twilight's sympathetic gaze. 

“That was it. You know what else happened.” Wild nodded with a frown on his face before he spoke in a whisper.

“You should never have had to go through that. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“I should have told you.”

“Maybe, but we should have been more prepared. We don’t always end up in safe places when we switch.”

“Sky is right. You couldn’t have known. If any of us were in your place you wouldn’t blame us.” A small voice spoke up from Sky’s palm, and they all looked down in surprise to see Hyrule slowly propping himself up. 

“Are you alright? You used a lot of energy to heal Legend.”

Hyrule waved them off as he fully sat up and said, “I just need a potion, then I’ll be fine.” Sky watched as Wild pulled out a blue potion and the cap of an acorn, which he passed to Hyrule once he had filled it up. 

Hyrules glow returned as he finished and his wings twitched a few times before going still again.

“See? All better!” There was a soft squeak before a pink paw darted out and poked the fairy, toppling him over even though it wasn’t with much force. 

Sky smiled slightly as he shook his head and said, “Yeah, no. We should all get some sleep.” Legend hoped out of Wild lap before curling up in the corner of the bed by the pillow. Sky let Hyrule drop out of his hand to lay down next to the rabbit, who reached out and rested a paw carefully over the fairy. Four hesitated a few seconds before joining them in the warm cuddle pile, nearly disappearing into the bundle of pink fur.

Sky slipped off the bed to give Wild some space, taking care to avoid stepping on Twilight’s tail as he walked past and whispering as he went. “By the way, you can get on the bed. They won’t mind.” There was a soft ‘oof’ behind him as he heard Twilight jump onto the bed and land directly on Wild, and he turned to see the large wolf looking quite comfortable laying completely across Wilds legs and stomach. 

He left them to sleep and moved to check on Time, Warriors, and Wind. One of the healers was using a special tool to listen to Time’s breathing, probably making sure he didn’t have any remaining water in his lungs before they would let him sleep. He didn’t look too happy about it, but he just let them do what they needed to do.

Warriors was laying on his back on a bed, his tunic and chainmail removed and bandages wrapped around his entire torso. Wind was curled up on the bed next to him, but not touching. Sky frowned in concern and gently took Warrior’s hand in his own, silently trying to convey his sympathy. Another hand slipped into his own and squeezed it tightly for a second, drawing his attention. 

“His burns were worse than we initially thought, but with the salve covering them, they shouldn’t take more than a week to fully heal. I doubt they will even leave a mark.” He smiled thankfully at Sun as she spoke, her words soothing his worry. 

“I’m so happy to be home, to see you. I wish it were under better circumstances…” She took both his hands in hers now and guided him out of the hall. He met Times gaze briefly as he passed and was surprised to see a warm and encouraging smile on the oldest heroes face. He blushed slightly at the implication and was actually tempted to poke his tongue out at him, but a door closed between them and the opportunity was lost.

“No matter what brought you here, let's just celebrate that you are back with us, if only for a short while.” He nodded at Zelda’s words and they hugged again, this time without injured comrades to distract them. 

He soaked in her warmth and finally felt at peace. There was a reason he called her his sun, and it wasn’t just because of its relevance to his nickname. It was her warmth that filled him in even the darkest of times. She wasn’t just meant to glow, she was meant to shine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally another chapter! Sorry for the wait, but I had a few other things to work on that had a time limit. but those are now complete and I could finally get this out there! I don't normally write ships, but Sun and Sky are so adorable I could't help myself XD. I hoped you enjoyed and please take a second to leave a comment! They make my day and help me find the motivation to keep writing!


	10. Attack of the Fluff

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A small interlude where the boys get to rest, relax, and be attacked by kittens.

Four was bored. They had been in Skyloft for a few days now, but with so many of their group sleeping and recovering, most of it had been spent just sitting around and waiting. The lack of things to do meant his fragments were on edge. He bit back a sigh as Blue started picking another fight with Red, Vio attempting to stop it, leaving Green alone to actually pay attention to the world around them.

He was actually getting a slight headache from the strain. There were soft footsteps behind him before Hyrule sat down next to him on the bed side table he was currently occupying. “So… Legend and I were talking… Well, more I was talking and he was nodding…” Four smiled as Hyrule began rambling.

“Anyway, we were bored, and I figured you were as well. There's not much we can do like this.” Four nodded in agreement, Blue finally leaving Red alone so all of them could listen. “What if we went exploring!” 

Four let out a soft snort of laughter at Hyrules excitement. “Of course you would decide on that.” He spoke fondly as he stopped laughing, seeing the satisfied smile on Hyrule’s face and knowing exactly what had just happened. 

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion and pointed an accusing finger at his friend. “You did that on purpose.” Hyrule merely shrugged and stood up pulling Four up with him. “It worked anyway.” Four couldn’t really be mad at Hyrule’s underhanded scheme to help him feel better. 

Hyrule led him towards the edge of the table and Four peered over to see Legend sitting below them, looking around the room as he waited for them to be ready. 

“Legend! I got him!” Pink ears pricked up at Hyrule’s shout and he looked up. 

‘Took you long enough. You done moping?’

Four stuck out his tongue at the rabbit before beginning to climb down the table towards the floor. Hyrule flew past him and perched on Legend’s back. He must be getting used to being this height again, because it was much easier to get around on his own now, much like when he had first gained the ability.

He dropped the last part of the climb to land in a crouch on the ground before pulling himself up onto Legend’s back behind the fairy. Legend darted off as soon as Four had settled and the small hero was forced to grab tightly around Hyrule’s waist to keep from falling off.

They darted between legs as they made their way through the halls of the Knight’s Academy and burst through the doors. The sun was bright on his face and Four took a deep breath of the fresh air. It was colder than he would have thought, but he didn’t really mind after the stuffiness of the medical wing and its oppressive atmosphere.

“So I heard from Sky that there's a group of Remlit somewhere on Skyloft, we should try and find it!” Four just gave Hyrule a dead-pan stare. 

“At this size, they’ll be more likely to try and eat us then want to play.” Hyrule was about to go on before trailing off mid-breath at Fours words. “Oh… Good point.” Four clapped a hand on Hyrule’s shoulder cheerfully before speaking again.

“Don’t worry about it, we can just try and find Sky’s friend, Whatever his name was, and mess with him! I heard he used to be a bit of a bully, so he kinda deserves it.” It seemed to work and the smile was back on Hyrule’s face. 

So they continued on, wandering around the small town, drawing more than a little attention. Townsfolk parted as the bunny hopped by, murmuring curiously at the small figures on its back. A few shadows flew over head and the small group stopped to look up as a couple of Loftwings drifted through the sky. 

“Wait, is that Sky?” Four squinted up at the large birds, trying to make out their riders through the glare of the sun, prompted by Hyrule’s question. He could tell one of the Loftwings was a vibrant red, and he couldn’t remember seeing any other red Loftwings besides Sky’s so it was a pretty solid assumption. 

‘It is. I can hear him laughing’ Legend was the one to give a final answer, his ears pricked as he listened. 

“The other rider is probably Sun then. Let’s leave them be and keep looking for Groose,” Four said with a soft smile. He was glad Sky got this time to catch up with his Zelda, and Four missed his own at the thought. 

Hyrule must have noticed his sudden melancholy, because he began telling a funny story from his first adventure. Four listened as they explored, letting himself get lost in the words. It helped align his thoughts, and he finally noticed the last remnants of his migraine disappear. 

He attention was drawn back to the present when Legend skidded to a stop, nearly flinging his passengers forward from the sudden stop. He darted sideways into a bush, crouching there in the shadows.

“What’s going on?” Hyrule whispered, leaning forward over the rabbit’s shoulder. ‘Sky is about to show up, we should go.” Four translated for Hyrule’s benefit, but before they could leave, there was a sudden rush of wind over head and a bright red Loftwing touched down in front of them.

Sky slid off it’s back, his motions slow and reluctant. A blue Loftwing landed next to them with Sun practically bouncing as she dismounted and walked over to the hero, a stark contrast to his earlier actions.

She slowed as she approached, stopping behind him as he stood beside his bird, gazing out into the clouds. 

“It’s so hard to be back home and know I will have to leave again.” Sun stepped closer and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her forehead against the back of his neck.

“I know.”

“This is such an important quest, with so much at stake. I have to keep going. But a part of me just longs to stay.”

Legend edged backwards, as if he was trying to sneak away, but the bush was a little too thick and he ended up getting himself tangled in the plants growing under the leaves. Legend froze immediately once he knew he was stuck, and Four sighed and slid from his back, pulling out his sword to begin to free him.

“We will always be here waiting for your return Link. You won’t lose us.” Four glanced up instinctively as they continued to talk, but instantly berated himself mentally and tried to tune them out. This was a private conversation.

He carefully began to cut away the grass that was tangled around Legend’s legs, taking care to not accidentally nick his friend with the blade. As he worked, he could hear Sky and Sun begin to walk away from their hiding spot.

He cut the last of the grass and Legend hopped forward, quickly getting out of the bush, leaving a laughing Four behind to pick his way out after him. 

“Aw, Link, you scared that poor Remlit!” There was a sudden crashing sound as something ran into the bush Four was still trying to get out of. He grunted in surprise as a paw slammed into his back and he was pushed face-first into the dirt. The paw was raised almost immediately and he pushed himself over only to end up face to face with a Remlit.

“Wait a second! Please don’t eat me!” He dragged himself backwards as he spoke, trying to get enough room to get to his feet, but a paw darted out and dragged him closer. Claws hooked slightly into his tunic and he knew he was trapped.

“Four!” Hyrule’s voice broke the tense silence and the green gaze that had been fixed on him darted in the direction the voice came from. Four could see Hyrules glow through the leaves, and he tried to call out to his friend, but the weight on his chest kept him from being able to draw in enough air.

‘Fuck it.’ There was another crash and Legend forced his way back into the bush, taking a second to look around before locking eyes with the cat-like creature. 

“Wait!” He managed to croak out, and the Remlit’s head spun around to face him, looking alarmed as it let up some of the pressure on his chest but didn’t fully let him go.

He gasped in a deep breath as the weight lifted, slumping into the ground as air filled his half-starved lungs. He barely even registered Legend pushing the Remlit away from him and getting between them. 

‘You alright there smithy?’ Four nodded eventually and pushed himself up. There was a paw at his back that helped him sit up. The Remlit was crouched down a good distance away from them, ears pressed back flat against its skull. 

Four had barely gotten to his feet before Hyrule slammed into him with a hug. He took a step back to keep them from falling over, laughing slightly while patting Hyrule on the back.

“I’m fine ‘rule. They weren’t trying to hurt me.” Four felt the arms tighten slightly before Hyrule released him and they both turned to face the Remlit. Four started walking towards it, but a pink paw stopped him.

‘What are you doing?!’ Four hopped over the paw and continued forward, waving off Legend’s and Hyrule’s protests. 

“It’s alright. We aren’t mad.” The large cat’s ears went up slightly and it uncurled a little bit as Four got closer. “You were just startled. How about a fresh start? I’m Four, the fairy over there is Hyrule, and the grumpy rabbit is Legend.”

The Remlit fully uncurled now and looked past Four at Legend suspiciously. 

‘I’m not gonna get attacked again, right?’ Four frowned slightly and nodded before turning and giving Legend a dirty look. The rabbit had the decency to look chastised before he tried to defend himself.

‘I didn’t know it wasn’t going to kill you! Sorry for trying to save your life, won’t do it again.’ Four smirked in disbelief at Legends statement before turning back to the Remlit. 

“So do you have a name?” The cat-like creature nodded, his ears perking and eyes sparkling with excitement now that the “threat” was gone. 

‘Aspen. That’s what my person called me before they went below the clouds.’ Four nodded, an idea forming in his head. He grinned at his plan and turned to face the others. 

“Everyone’s been pretty miserable lately, maybe hanging out with some Remlit will help cheer them up!” Hyrule nodded thoughtfully while Legend just let out a sigh of resignation. 

“Do you want to come meet our friends? We promise they won’t hurt you or anything.” Four watched as Aspen considered the offer before nodding, his tail twitching excitedly.

‘We can get some of my friends as well! Since our people left we’ve been a little lonely, so I’m sure they would be happy to spend some time with your friends!.’ Four’s grin grew even wider. 

“Legend and I can go back and make sure all the others are still in the med wing, maybe you can go with Aspen and lead them all back to the med wing.” Four nodded to Hyrule and climbed onto the Remlits back when they crouched down.

They darted out of the bush and Four held on the Aspens fur, trying not to accidentally pull it, but also not really wanting to fall. They drew less attention then the first time Four had ventured around town. Aspen left the main town and headed up towards a pond with a tree arching over it. 

As they got closer, Four could make out movement around the trunk, and he realized there were at least 10 Remlits tumbling and wrestling in the grass. They stopped as Aspen approached, watching them with pricked ears and eyes bright.

It didn’t take much convincing to get the group to follow them, and soon enough Four was grinning madly while leading a group of Remlits through town. They mostly knew where they were going anyway, but Four did help occasionally, but he was pretty much just along for the ride.

They did run into a problem when they reached the academy and were met with closed doors. Four frowned as he looked around for another way in. One of the windows near the door was slightly cracked open.

“If you can get me close enough to that window, I can open it the rest of the way and we can get in through there.” Aspen nodded and moved to stand below the window. Four dragged himself up onto the ledge and leaned all his weight against the shutter. His feet slid slightly and he tried to get better traction, but the shutter was just a bit too heavy for him to move.

‘You having fun there?’

Four started in surprise before spinning around to see Legend watching him in amusement from the floor inside the building. Four scowled back at the rabbit before letting out a defeated sigh. Green was definitely in the forefront as Four finally spoke.

“Could you help me open this? That is, if you’re not too busy sitting there being a prick.” Huh, guess Vio did get a say after all. Legend seemed to smirk before he prepared to jump up onto the ledge next to the small hero. Four moved to the side to give him more space, not wanting to get squished or pushed off on accident.

Unfortunately, the ground was a bit too slippery and when Legend pushed off with his hind legs. Instead of his body going up, his legs went back and he flopped pathetically on his belly. Four couldn’t keep from laughing and had to lean against the frame for support. 

Legend grumbled something under his breath before making another attempt that succeeded in getting him up to the ledge. 

‘Not a WORD.’

‘Only if you don’t say anything about me needing help opening the window.’

Legend reluctantly agreed as he pushed open the window shutter with a paw and beckoned to the mass of awaiting Remlit. Aspen was the first up and Four clambered onto his back before they both followed Legend through the halls to the room with the rest of the group.

Four had Aspen stop just before they could see into the room and the Remlit gathered behind him, twitching with excitement. Legend went in the room first and after a few seconds, Four heard him get noticed by the rest of the guys.

“There you are Legend. Wait… Where did Four go?”

That was his cue. With a laughing shout of ‘charge!’ the army of Remlits invaded the room, causing a chorus of laughter and shocked shouts. 

Time was leaning against the wall next to Warriors bed while the Captain was propped up with a mass of pillows with Wind sitting next to him and leaning into his side. Sky had quickly moved to the back of the room and was watching the Remlits apprehensively as they swarmed in and instantly zeroed in on the bed. 

Wild was watching with a grin on his face and his slate was out instantly and taking pictures. Twilight just sat by his protege’s side and watched in tired amusement as Time, Warriors and Wind were ‘attacked’ by the fluffy mass. Four could see Hyrule perched on his head and assumed he had already told the older hero what they were planning.

Four slid off Aspen’s back and rested his hand on the Remlits shoulder in appreciation. The cat did not leave immediately however, instead sitting and watching contentedly as his friends and family played with the laughing Hylians. 

Wind looked like he was in heaven as he had 3 of the furry creatures wrestling in his lap and a fourth draped around his shoulder. Warriors was smiling at the shaggy Remlit that sprawled itself across his legs and was now laying with its paws in the air as it had its belly rubbed.

Time held a Remlit in his arms and absentmindedly stroked it as he watched the two most affected by the trauma of the past few days finally smiling once again. Four felt satisfied at the lighter atmosphere. He met Times gaze and grinned at the approving nod he received. 

Legend sat next to him and Hyrule flew over to stand with them as they surveyed their work.

“This was a good idea.”

‘Sadly, I have to agree.’

Four elbowed Legend in the shoulder but otherwise didn’t react to the sarcasm in his remark. 

“It was all of us who came up with it. And yes, it did go rather well.”

Aspen walked over towards Sky, who took an apprehensive step back. Aspen stopped and sat down, tilting his head slightly to the side curiously. Sky was watching him skeptically before he glanced over at the other heroes who were having perfectly safe interactions with the Remlits. Seeming to make up his mind, Sky cautiously crouched in front of Aspen and reached out with a hand.

Aspen pushed his head forward into Sky's palm, and the purring could be heard from Fours spot across the room. Sky seemed to be in a state of shock as Aspen continued to push against his hand before staring up at him with wide happy eyes.

“Yeah. This went perfectly.”


	11. Falling Into Place

He still only trusted these creatures about as far as he could throw them, but he was willing to admit that maybe they weren’t all bad. Once Four had come charging into the room with a horde of the fluffy demons, he had to accept that if they left Four alone when he was that size, they must be at least a little intelligent. Because of this, he decided that he could live with them staying in the room… for now.

Once most of the chaos had died down, Sky could tell that it had helped. The atmosphere was much lighter, and it was a nice change from the tense nervousness and anxiety they had been feeling since their capture, and everyone had genuine smiles on their faces. He glanced down at the Remlit that was leaning against his leg, purring contentedly. It was weird, it hadn’t moved towards anyone else, seemingly happy to just stand with him even after he stopped petting it long ago.

He was drawn out of his musing when Sun walked into the room, a radiant smile lighting up her face at the sight that awaited her. He wasn’t the only one to notice her entrance though, because all the other heroes seemed to straighten slightly and turn their attention to her as she stood in the doorway. 

“I see you have some company,” Sun said with a laugh before continuing with a slightly more serious tone. “None of you had very many serious injuries. The burns you did have were minor enough that there should be little to no permanent damage and it should only take about a week for them to heal enough for you to keep going on your journey.” Sky could see Warriors relax at the news and Sky completely understood. As someone who had spent so much of their life fighting, being stuck in bed and unable to defend yourself was nearly impossible to handle.

“Now, I was wondering about the state of the rest of you. I thought there were nine in your group?”

It wasn’t unexpected, and with a quick glance between them all, Sky nodded slightly before beginning his explanation. Not surprisingly, Sun took it quite well. She had experienced much stranger already, not to mention her knowledge as Hylia gave her a distinct advantage....

That was it. Sky liked to think he didn’t have any secrets from the group, but that wasn’t completely true. He knew how some of the others felt about Hylia, and rightly so with what they had gone through. But even if their dislike was justified, Sky hadn’t been able to tell them the truth about his Zelda. She hadn’t done anything to deserve their ire and he knew for a fact at least one of them (mainly Legend) wouldn’t hesitate to make that dislike clear.

It would be hundreds, if not thousands, of years before any of these transgressions would occur, and a lot could change in that time. The Zelda he knew would never do some of the things that had been described if she had any other option. 

But those feelings didn’t really matter anymore. He didn’t have much of a choice, and he would have to reveal it eventually, might as well do it on his own terms. It had only taken him a few seconds to come to his decision, and he took a deep breath before looking up at the rest of his companions. They all looked at him curiously as he prepared to speak, sensing the seriousness of the matter.

“I think I figured out what my secret is. What I need to tell you all.” The silence in the room was nearly drowning him and he stared down at his clenched fists sitting in his lap. “I know most of you have heard that the royal family, especially the princesses, are said to have the blood of the goddess running through their veins.” He glanced up to see the others nodding, but he could tell they weren’t sure about where he was going with this.

“Well, it had to start somewhere. The goddess Hylia had to be mortal at one point in order for her to have children and start this royal bloodline.” He saw understanding begin to dawn on some of the other heros faces, and Sky looked towards Sun to see her smiling at him encouragingly, and he managed a smile back. Thankfully she took over for him and spoke up next.

“As I’m sure you may have begun to suspect, I, Zelda, am the goddess reborn.” The air in the room had grown tense and Sky hesitantly looked at the others, trying to gauge their reaction. Legend was completely frozen, anger and something else Sky couldn’t identify burning in his gaze. Sky stood and took a step towards him, but before he could do anything else the pink rabbit had spun around and darted out of the room and Sky could only watch helplessly as he disappeared out an open window.

Sighing heavily, he turned back to the group to meet Times gaze and he flinched at the emotions he saw there. It was a mess of betrayal, anger, sadness, helplessness, and grief. Everyone in the room was watching the oldest hero, scared of what he might do. Time’s gaze moved from pinning Sky in place to land on Sun, who had moved to stand beside him. She stood tall, refusing to flinch and meeting his gaze with her own.

Sky held his breath as Time stood, having to force himself to not reach for any weapon. This was  _ Time _ . He wasn’t going to do anything. Sun and Time seemed to be having some kind of battle of wills, and as Sky watched, he saw Time’s gaze soften slightly. Everyone in the room let out a collective breath of relief as the tension broke. 

“Link has told me some of you stories. I’m sorry to hear what happened to you. All of you have been through so much, I wish you hadn’t had to go through all of that.” Sun’s voice was quiet, but it had an underlying strength to it that showed her sincerity. Time looked like he was about to say something before he let out a sigh and left the room without a word. Sky met Sun’s gaze and she gave him a sad smile before gesturing for him to follow after the older hero. Sky nodded and looked at everyone else before hurrying after Time.

It didn’t take him long to find him. Time was sitting at one of the docks, his feet dangling over the clouds. He was resting his elbows on his knees with his hands tangled in his hair as he gazed down at the impossibly far drop. Sky didn’t say anything as he sat himself down next to him, making sure to give him some space.

“I know she hasn’t done anything. Not yet, anyway. She doesn’t deserve this hatred, but…” Time took a slow breath, as if he was trying to steady himself before he continued. “... I’ve spent so long mourning what I lost. It wasn’t just the seven year skip, it was my whole childhood. Even though I got to go back, I had changed so much it had made it impossible to go back to who I was before. I was a puzzle piece that was broken too many times to fit”

Sky was startled by the laugh that suddenly came from the older hero. “I spent my whole adult life hating Hylia for what she made me go through, but now that I met her, she’s too nice for me to fathom even  _ vaguely disliking _ her, let alone hating her.”

Sky couldn’t help join in his laughter slightly, relief loosening the knot that had lingered in his chest. “She tends to have that effect on people.” Time nodded, smiling ruefully. “It’s going to be hard for awhile. I wish I could have had some warning so it wouldn’t have been such a shock, but I think it always would have been a shock, no matter when you told me” Sky understood. There was never a good time to meet the person who was the cause of your life-long trauma.

Sky was slightly startled by the warm hand that came to rest on his shoulder, but he smiled over at the older hero before he was pulled into a solid side hug. “Thank you for trusting us enough to tell us. It must have been hard.” Sky shrugged slightly, not wanting to dislodge Time’s arm but also needing some way to deal with what he considered unneeded praise. 

They sat in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, still slightly leaning into each other, before Sky heard a flurry of footsteps behind him. He turned to try and see what was happening, but he only caught a brief glimpse of pink fur before the breath was knocked out of him by something colliding with his stomach.

He gasped for breath and curled into himself slightly before realizing that he could no longer feel the dock beneath him, and Time’s arm was gone. He instinctively let out a piercing whistle and it wasn’t long before he was sitting comfortably on the back of his Crimson Loftwing, catching his breath from the sudden fall. His peace was short lived however, as he registered a high pitched shrieking coming from below. He urged his Loftwing into a dive and soon managed to pick out the spot of pink amongst the clouds.

Pulling up alongside the panicking rabbit, he let himself smirk slightly before speaking. “So… What did we learn?” Legend’s head whipped around and Sky struggled to not laugh at the shrill scream that came from the hero-turned-rabbit. “Are you going to say you’re sorry?” The scream turned into a screech. “That didn’t sound like an apology,” Sky said with a grin, waving his finger in Legend’s face. He was surprised, he didn’t think the little rabbit could get any louder.

Eventually, he took pity on him and scooped him out of the air and allowed his Loftwing to gracefully pull out of the dive and soar back into the air towards Skyloft. He very kindly ignored the fact the Legend was shaking in his arms, and if he ran a comforting hand down the rabbit’s back a few times, well, they really didn’t need to mention this ever again.

When they reached the dock they had fallen from, Sky waved cheerfully at Time, who was pacing back and forth at the edge and looked like he was debating jumping off after them. Time sagged in relief and waved back, drawing them both into a hug the second Sky had touched the ground. Sky was pretty sure the only reason he could still breathe was because Time didn’t want to crush Legend, who had already let out an indignant squeak when they were first grabbed. 

“So, Now that we’ve all had a nice little chat, why don’t we head back to the others to show that we aren’t dead?” Sky laughed at Time’s comment and led the way, the weight on his shoulders finally lifting. He had told them, and they didn’t hate him. That was really what he had been wanting all along.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I have been determined to finish this fic for a long time, but I just lost motivation for it and felt it would be better to wait for it to come back and post a well-written chapter then to force myself through it and post something that I wasn't very proud of. I'm sorry for the wait, but its finally here! There is only one secret left to reveal, and hopefully that one will take less time for my to write.
> 
> also, as a requirement from some of my friends, I must include:  
> Everybody do the flop!


End file.
